


The Shadows can Speak

by Kukuriko



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Blood, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Gore, Possessive/Protective Behaviour, Reader-Insert, Reaper has little/no control over his wraith powers, Researcher!Reader, SCP!Reaper, Surgery, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8478196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kukuriko/pseuds/Kukuriko
Summary: The SCP Foundation is a facility dedicated to uncovering the existence of mysterious entities and creatures. One such entity is a violent formation of smoke which has no hesitation in lashing out and killing several people. And yet, you can't help but feel that there's something much more to this monstrosity.Note: This fic was written before Moira was announced





	1. The Shadow

_SCP IN TRANSIT. CLASS: KETER. PLEASE REMAIN INSIDE SAFE ROOMS INCASE OF CONTAINMENT BREACH._

It was just another day at the office where a mysterious entity gets carted into their containment cells. You and your co-workers wait patiently in one of the many safe rooms inside the facility as you’re being briefed over the speakers. This time, it seems to be an extremely violent, non-corporeal, ghost like entity. They haven’t examined what kind of smoke it emits, but it seems to be lethal if inhaled in large quantities. The five that died in this SCP’s retrieval will be sent off for an autopsy.

You hear muffled shrieking on the outside, followed by loud banging sound. Probably the SCP trying to escape.

_Just another day at the office._

You think back to your first few days. You caught the attention of the SCP corporation and offered you a high paying job when you were fresh out of university. It was like a dream come true (not only for the good pay) but to be a part of such a fascinating corporation dedicated to researching strange things. You were ecstatic, looking forward to the possible discoveries that you’ll uncover, until you experienced your first containment breach. It was off putting to see other scientists so calm as a… monster, was ravaging the facility. You were scared, shaking as you feared for your life, and when it was over you were shocked at the death tally, but a senior researcher simply put their hand on your shoulder.

_Just another day at the office._

You were used to containment breaches. It no longer became a surprise when people died. Hell, examining their corpses became a beneficial part of learning about the SCP’s, and so, you became numb towards the idea of death.

The muffled banging stops. They must have finally contained it into its cell. The shutters and the alarm begins to reset, you and the group of researchers beginning to make you way into the observation hall. The observation deck overlooks the large square room, and in the centre, is a 5 x 5 metre concrete box with thick reinforced windows on the walls. The entrance into the cell is a steel reinforced double door with an industrial fan set up at the entrance. You see it now, a shadow thrashing around in its containment cell. Some of the researches in the room below begin setting up equipment, prepping for some basic analysis on the SCP. You’ve encountered many SCP’s like this, monstrous and violent, and yet, you feel a shiver down your spine as you hear it screech. Usually, SCP’s of this kind screech in anger or in retaliation, but for this SCP, there’s a hint of sadness to it, as if it’s in pain. You glance around at your other colleagues, their expressions hardened and neutral, probably not picking up on the way it’s crying. You stare back at it, the shadow begins to tire, slowly forming into a pool of smoke on the ground as a handful of personnel begin approaching it for samples.

\---

The day was tiring, the retrieval of KETER class SCP’s are rare, and when they do contain one, the examinations are brutal. You and the others in the observation room were lucky to just make notes in safety, while the others below were not as much. Two were seriously injured, one inhaling too much of the smoke and the other having… claw marks across their torso. The other researches simply hummed, writing notes on how it’s capable of solidifying its form. The research was also able to yield some photographs of these ‘claws’, lashing out like a scythe. Eventually, the researches agreed to label it as SCP-666 from its aggression and desire for killing. Furthermore, the personnel that it killed before had signs of rotting, despite the short timeframe. Lab rats were retrieved and sent into the cell, in which SCP-666 began to ‘consume’ them, the rats rotting and leaving behind bones in a couple of hours. SCP-666 seems to have become a bit more docile after consuming the rats, perhaps it needs to eat like this. Researches wish to measure how much it’ll need to consume to keep it like this, after all, it’s not often that an SCP requires food. That’s all you managed to uncover today until it was the end of your shift.

You lie in bed, thinking about anything that could be researchable, and remember the way it cries out. You reach for your clipboard, but to your dismay it wasn’t in your room. After a few minutes of looking, you realised you must’ve left it in the observation room. You grab your ID and begin making your way to SCP-666’s containment cell, which was about 15 minutes away.

You open the door to the observation room, and find that his containment cell was deserted, probably everyone staffed to study it was exhausted for today. The area is dark and a bit eerie with just the sound of your footsteps echoing in the room. You find your clipboard and look down from the window, catching one last glance at SCP-666 before leaving. You widen your eyes from the way it’s acting, and you quickly make sure that the security feed is recording its activity, only to find it offline. The SCP must’ve destroyed the camera set up inside. You look back down at it to watch as what you could describe SCP-666 as _writhing_ , coughing and crying as it twists into itself. You catch glimpses of it, but you swear you see…. A humanoid figure appearing, before dispersing back into shadow. It…. ‘falls’ to the floor, seeming banging on the ground as it continues to thrash. You feel that shiver down your spine again. It’s cry… it sounds so painful.

You ensure that the other cameras are still working, you never know if this sympathy you’re feeling for it might be a part of its ability. After confirming all the cameras are recording, you take a deep breath before making your way to the microphone. You turn it on.

“Are… you in pain?” you ask nervously, unsure of how it’ll react. Your voice echoes into the room, and the shadow stops. It starts to twist side to side, as if it’s looking for the source, but the speakers are outside it’s cell. The speaker beside you crackles, picking up on some audio from below. It sounds like hissing, or some kind of growling. You take some quick notes, and decide on what else to ask it.

“Are… Is there any way I can help you?” you question, awaiting another response. SCP-666 seems docile, floating in the air, it ‘turns’ and looks at you, seemingly realising the source of your voice and hovers by the cell’s window. The speaker crackles again.

“I_i… nE---ed,” it hisses. You listen intently as you quickly write notes again.

_‘Capable of speech-?’_

It pauses, struggling to speak. It seems hesitant, it’s body still in its stationary, docile position. You gulp.

“I-I’m here,” you say. Maybe it has some semblance of emotion besides rage. Could it be afraid? It seems to have worked, as the shadows begin to reform into a thicker form.

“sOu-ls, I ne__d s_uls,” it says, before the smoke falls apart, slowly spreading along the ground.

Souls? Does it want to consume a living being? Even so, the lab rats are currently locked away at this time. You can’t currently retrieve them.

“I don’t have access to any ‘souls’ I could give you right now,” you say. The shadows immediately reforms to lash out, you flinch as it begins striking at the wall, before collapsing to the ground.

“I-I’m sorry!” you say in a panic, your voice making the microphone ring. “We- we don’t have anything we can give you right now because we don’t know the specifics on what you need to consume.”

You see it writhe, but much weaker this time, you can’t help but feel pity towards the thing. Your eyes widen.

_Pity is a rookie mistake._

KETER class SCPs’ are the most dangerous. You should not sympathise with something so destructive. You begin to leave when the speaker crackles.

“F-f-iv_ e, tHose HU-ma_ns, nEeD…” it says, it’s voice becomes almost like a weak whisper, before SCP-666 recedes, backing away from the window in its cell.

Before going to sleep, you do some rough measurements on what could substitute for five humans. You issue an order for some livestock to be delivered tomorrow.

\---

In the morning, the senior researchers were a bit bothered at how you conducted a test without notifying anybody first. You argued that maybe you were lucky to catch it in this state, and eventually the researchers stopped pestering you. They analysed the footage that was recorded, shaking their heads at the way you spoke to it unprofessionally. Fortunately, the livestock did arrive, consisting of one cow and a few other common animals. They were placed in SCP-666’s cell, and seemingly to its delight, began ‘consuming’ the livestock. After an hour or so, there was a noticeable increase in SCP-666’s strength, the smoke becoming thicker and more “kept together”. As it continues its consumption process, you and a few of the researchers decide to have some early lunch at the cafeteria. You briefly discussed your findings from today’s test when suddenly, the alarm goes off, and lights begin to flash red.

**_CONTAINMENT BREACH. CONTAINMENT BREACH. MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST SAFE ROOM._ **

The sounds of panic begin to fill the cafeteria, people shouting and screaming as they flee into the nearest safe rooms. As you’re attempt to run away, you trip on your seat, causing you to fall to the ground. You get up as fast as you can and run to the nearest safe room, but it’s already been sealed off. You run to the next one. Closed off. You turn the corner, hoping that the next safe room was still open, but is met with something _much_ worse.

In the open hall, you see SCP-666 lash out at a guard, blood spurting from the man’s chest before falling to the ground. Two men behind it begins to open fire, only for the bullets to pass through its body. SCP-666 flies towards the guards, its smoke filling their lungs as they choke. After a few seconds of gagging and clutching their mouths, they fall to the ground, lifeless.

You’re stuck where you stand, frozen in fear as the shadow spots you, and begins to menacingly make its way towards you. You back away instinctively, tripping over yourself but still crawling backwards, your eyes wide in horror. You stop as you feel the wall press against your back, no more escape. SCP-666 towers over you, its thick black smoke leaning forward towards you. You squint your eyes and put your arms up.

“Please, don’t!” you cry in desperation and in fear, tears welling up in your eyes as you’re torn between a chance at survival or accepting your demise. You wait for your judgement, and wait, until something doesn’t seem right. You slowly open your eyes to see SCP-666 recede away from your slightly, it’s form still from where its hovering.

“You…?” SCP-666’s voice sounds much clearer than what you heard last time. To your disbelief, you see it begin to… form a face… and a body? Looking like the ghost of a person, it tilts its head at you.

“Was that you last night, speaking to me? Your voice…” it hisses, it’s voice coming out breathy and shallow. You slowly nod your head.

“Yes… I-,” you gulp, afraid that if you say the wrong thing your life will be over. “Are you… Are the ‘souls’ enough?”

It hangs in the air, staring at you as you stare back. It continues to tilt its head, as if its taking note on the way you look. Some semblance of a tendril forms out of the shadows, reaching out and beginning to tug on your clothing and your hair gently. It doesn’t seem to be threatening you, more so, seemingly being curious about you.

“Th-thank you,” it says. You slowly reach your hand out to the tendril, your heart throbbing in fear, but to your relief SCP-666 lets you hold it. It’s strange. You’re holding onto smoke, and yet, you feel something solid in your grasp. You cautiously stand up, and begin walking, leading it along with you.

“Come on, let’s go back to your room, alright?” you say calmly. It follows you, gently floating behind you as you walk back to his containment cell.

Guards and researchers part and make way, their faces in disbelief as you walk past with SCP-666 behind you. You put your hand up, reassuring them that everything is fine, and continue walking. The door to its cell seems to be undamaged, it possibly took the opportunity to escape as soon as it was opened. You lead it back into its cell and slowly close the steel door. You walk around to a window, where SCP-666 meets you there.

“I’ll be back, okay?” you say reassuringly, it seems to nod before dispersing its wraith form, becoming a calm cloud of smoke inside its cell, and you walk away.

\---

You spend the next hour being examined and bombarded with questions. You’re naked as you’re tested for any of the smoke residue and your hand going under a number of scans seeing as how you “held the hand” of a smoke entity.

“How did you calm SCP-666 down?”

“What did you say to it?”

You answer them as best as you can, but the whole ordeal has left you exhausted. Eventually, they decided that it was best to let you rest and continue the interrogation tomorrow. You make your way to your room, slumping on your bed and finally get a chance to relax. Emotionally drained, you begin to fall into a slumber as you try to run some notes in your head.

_Ability to communicate._

_Ability to solidify._

_….Friendly?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU was inspired by this http://drabblewatch.tumblr.com/post/152405379534/scp-666-reaper
> 
> Here is also an explanation of the SCP universe if you're new to it :) http://scp-watch.tumblr.com/faq


	2. Experiment: Contact

Usually, researchers are to rotate between observing SCPs in case the SCPs had any long term psychological effects. However, after displaying your ability to somewhat ‘control’ SCP-666, you’ve been assigned to check on it on a weekly basis. A researcher crosses his arms as briefs you on your new schedule.

“While you were recovering and taking a break, SCP-666 has been growing more and more violent. We believe it’s not its lack of food, rather, it wants to see you. We’ve gotten reports that it… shifts restlessly, and the only time it speaks, it asks for you,” he leans back, awaiting your response. However, the other researcher next to him purses her lips.

“Or [Y/N] could be an SCP themselves.”

“That’s-!” you exclaim, you look at the male researcher for insurance, but he simply shrugs.

“That’s still a possibility. It’s not every day a person’s able to control a KETER class SCP,” he nods to the woman. She cocks her head and gives you an inquisitive look.

“Maybe you could control more than just this SCP?”

“Hey!” you exclaim, rejecting the idea of being in isolation. You know the kind of tests they run, and some of them are not the sort a normal person could survive. “Or this connection between SCP-666 and I could just be a complete accident.”

The woman takes a sip from her coffee. “True,” she says, putting her mug down. “But until we’re sure you’re not an SCP, you’re going to be on the watch list. Understood?”

You sigh.

“Understood.”

\---

Upon catching up on some reading, you realise that the autopsies of the deaths caused by SCP-666 have come in.

[REDACTED]  
Cause of Death: inhalation of strange, black smoke.  
Traces of ash collected from lungs. Further testing required to deduce the origin of the ash.

 

[CHAT LOG 26 – SCP-666]

[USER_2358]: Ash? So did SCP-666 come from a fire?  
[USER_3602]: Possibly. We did recover SCP-666 from the remains of a destroyed facility.  
[USER_2358]: Maybe we should see how it reacts to fire then?  
[USER_1973]: Unless you want SCP-666 to attack you I’d heavily advise against that.  
[USER_4860]: How about [REDACTED]? They were able to control it, no?  
[USER_3602]: How about we stick to the basics tests before we risk our lives.  
[USER_4860]: Alright, so do we know when they-

  
There’s a knock on the door to your quarters, interrupting your reading. You open it to find one of the researchers wheezing and panting.

“SCP- 666- We need- your help- “he pants as he wipes the sweat off his brow. You immediately grab your ID and your coat before rushing towards the elevator with him.

“Did something happen?” you ask as the elevator door closes. The man takes in a deep breath before speaking again.

“I know it’s not your time for your shift but… those video logs of you talking to it? We tried to recreate what you did but it only made it angry. It won’t stop thrashing at the door and shouting.”

The elevator halts and opens and you two rush towards the containment cell of SCP-666. He wasn’t kidding, you see people surrounding SCP-666’s cell as it loudly bangs against the steel door.

“WHERE?!” it screeches as it hits the door again. The sound of metal creaking makes everyone jolt.

“Look, here they are, see?” a frazzled researcher pushes you forward. You stumble a little and you shoot them a glare, before making your way to one of the windows of the cell. The moment it spots you, you could see the smoke begin to relax. You can see tendrils form and try to reach towards you, only to be blocked by the window. It looks around in confusion, banging on the walls again as it fails to reach out to you.  Some of the researchers gasp at its continued aggression. You look at SCP-666 and put your hand up against the window, feeling the vibrations of the wall from its thrashing.

“No, no, no, it’s okay. It’s okay…” you say, attempting to calm SCP-666 down. To be honest, you didn’t expect to hold any sway over SCP-666’s actions despite what most researchers are thinking. What happened that day during the containment breach could’ve been a moment of confusion for SCP-666. And yet, you could see it’s smoky arms begin to lax, it speaks in muffled whispers which are too hard for to understand right now.

“Hey there,” you say as calming as you can to it. You watch it carefully, making sure it’s as docile as it can before you look to one of the researchers. “What exactly did you say to it?”

Someone immediately replays an audio clip of an older gentlemen repeating what you said to it that night. However, it was completely void of any emotion and some of what you said got formalised. It only took a few seconds for SCP-666 to begin lashing out. You roll your eyes.

“What’s on the agenda?” you sigh and look around. Most of the personnel around you seem to still be keeping a distance from the cell, still cautious towards the chance of a violent outburst.

“W-we were supposed to ask some basic questions,” a woman speaks up. “But it wouldn’t respond to us… well, until we tried _that_.”

“But since you’re here early,” an older gentleman stands out, flipping past a few pages on his notebook. All the researchers seem to know what he’s talking about and begin to prepare themselves for something while you stand there, your hand still by the window of SCP-666’s cell.

“[Y/N], please step into SCP-666’s cell.”

You already see people backing away from you, grabbing pens and notes as they stare at you expectantly. You frown at the older gentleman, surely he knows the risks? SCP-666… that day with it could’ve all been a coincidence. As a KETER class SCP it’s unpredictable and extremely dangerous. There’s a high probability that you’ll get consumed or ripped to shreds… or both.

“SCP-666 has already been fed in yesterday. There’s a low chance that he’ll consume you.”

“What about the other risks?” you ask bluntly, angry at how they’re toying with your life for a test. The man walks up to you, tries to put his hand on your shoulder but SCP-666 hisses at him, making him take a step back, but he quickly ignores SCP-666 again and looks at you.

“We’re aware of them, yes, but you have to realise. This is your _duty_ as a researcher here. What we discover today could be essential in figuring out the mysteries of this SCP. You joined the SCP foundation to unravel these mysteries, didn’t you?”

You glance briefly to your side; just hidden in the shadows you could see some guards at the standby. Even if you declined, you have a feeling it won’t be so easy to just walk away free. You turn to look at the other shadow, the one hanging menacingly behind you. It hovers gently, the smoke floating down from the momentary spike of aggression from before. The way it shifts looks like it’s tilting its head, like it’s expecting a move from you. It tries to reach for you again, but this time when the tendrils reached the window the smoke dispersed, leaving a screen of shadow between you two.

_Was it trying to say something?_

“Fine,” you say, making you way towards the steel door.

\---

As the steel door opened and emergency barriers were played around the holding cell, the steps leading into SCP-666’s cell were heavy. A part of you wanted to run, knowing that you’re walking right into certain death. And yet, as the doors swung open, SCP-666 floated gently in the air, no threats, no aggressive reaction. It was… inviting.

You walk in, your eyes fixated on SCP-666 before you. Both of you don’t move, staring at each other silently until the steel door slamming behind you makes you jolt. You feel your mind begin to crack from the fear you feel running rampant and your body begins to shake. You see SCP-666 notice this and begin to approach you. You see those arms forming again, reaching out to you slowly. You flinch as it wraps around your waist, and then you were… surprised.

SCP-666 pulls you into itself, almost into some sort of hug. You sub-consciously hold your breath to avoid breathing in its smoke, squirming as you feel your lungs tighten. SCP-666 realised your discomfort again and effortlessly flips you around, the smoke lifting you up from your legs and spinning you around. You were now facing away from its body, and reluctantly take in a breath, but relax when you don’t feel like you inhaled any smoke. SCP-666 seems satisfied and begins to let out a small hum, almost like a purr that tickles your ear for a second. The tendrils around your waist tighten slightly, and you’re held gently in the air. You lean back into it, and even though you know it’s smoke, you still feel your back press against something warm and solid, like a person. You look through the windows of SCP-666’s cells, the ever-watching eyes of your fellow researchers writing down notes like emotionless machines at work. It’s a strange comfort that conflicts you soul, because despite being told what the monster is in this room, you’ve never felt more comfortable in its embrace.

You look down at the tendrils and you see the shadows begin to converge even more, this time you begin to see details. You begin to see where the joint is, the way the shadows curve and bump, and as you reached down to lift one of its smoky tendrils up, you see a very rough image of a hand. It’s fingers haphazardly clumped together, as if it’s hard to define each shape of a finger. You run your other hand against it, feeling the knuckles and run your fingers down SCP-666’s palm. You turn to look at it, it’s seems to have gone into a wraith form so a featureless face gently rests by your shoulder. It sees you examine its hand, and it unexpectedly pulls it away from you slowly. The purring stops as it turns into a soft moan, it’s hand returning to wrap around you again and hold you closer. Could SCP-666 have come from… a human being?

“What… happened to you?” you say.

“….I_I-“

The familiar sound of the speakers whining pierces your ears. Its disturbance causes SCP-666 to become alert, growling as a thick smoke screen begins to conceal you.

“That’s all we need for now,” a researcher says over the microphone. “Please exit SCP-666 containment cell and make your way to the examination room.”

Through the thick dark screen, you can see some of the personnel begin to take positions around the cell. SCP-666 becomes more aggressive, completely encasing you in smoke before letting out a screech.

“W-wait!” you call out, feeling for the tendrils wrapped around your waist and begin trying to tug them loose. “It’s okay! Everything’s going to be fine!”

You slowly try to step out of SCP-666 grasp, a chill runs through your body as you leave its warm embrace. You hear the steel door unlatch.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back, okay?” you turn back and say to SCP-666. Its tendrils hang in the air, wanting to hold you again. You take its inaction as a sign that you can leave, and you turn around only to feel a familiar hand grasp yours from behind. This time it’s tense and haphazard, seeming as though its forcing itself to create this hand.

“C-come back?” it whispers, it’s voice in some sort of desperate growl. You nod.

“Yes, I just have to do some work and I’ll be back. I promise.”

There’s a few more seconds of holding your hand before you feel the hand disperse, smoke slipping away from your hand. You exit the cell, the steel door shutting behind you as SCP-666 moves towards the window to its cell, watching over you.

After the all clear way given, you’re guided towards an examination room where your clothes are taken away from you again to be tested for residue. They swab your skin while asking questions. The researchers begin comparing notes, cross checking with you to see if you agreed.

“What did the arm feel like?” one asked. “It could’ve been an illusion created by SCP-666.”

“Maybe it takes the form of its target?” another asked, writing footnotes on their page.

“We’ll need further testing for that. [Y/N], please keep up the good work. We’ve gain a lot of insight from today.”


	3. Experiment: Connection

The report that came in recently confirms your suspicions. SCP-666 definitely originated from the ashes of a human being. However, the reason behind its bizarre form and how it came to be is still unknown. Some of the researchers have suggested looking at the medical records of dead or missing people, but it’s too broad of a range to yield any results. A name would certainly narrow it down, but SCP-666 still refuses to tell anyone yet (the other researchers are certainly looking forward to your visit). Furthermore, just in case SCP-666 turns extremely violent before your scheduled weekly visits, your computer now has access to the security feed to SCP-666’s chamber. Sometimes after your shift ends, you would return to watch the current tests they would be doing with SCP-666 such as giving it items or asking it questions. The questions were immediately ignored, and any items that were given to it would be destroyed.

The odd thing about the security feed from your computer was that when there were no scheduled experiments for SCP-666 and it was left alone, it would stare directly at the camera and give off a low purr, despite nobody telling it that you could see it. It became sort of a habit to return to your room exhausted from your work shift, and sleeping to the sounds of SCP-666’s humming from your computer.

\---

It was the day of your shift with SCP-666, and as you made you way to its chamber you were greeted with a few awkward glances towards your direction. It seems that being a counterpart with a KETER class SCP has left people suspicious, and you’re still on that SCP watch list after all. You continue to walk and you greet the senior researcher.

“Ah, hello [Y/N],” he says, quickly directing a researcher to prepare some tools before returning their attention to you.

“How are the experiments going?” you ask out of humour, you know that the tests aren’t going well from watching the live security feed.

“Not great. That’s why I would like to try something… a bit riskier.”

“Riskier?” you say with concern. You know that SCP-666 is calmer in your presence, but it won’t be any good if they ruin that connect you have with it.

“Yes, ah- “he waves over a person, a junior researcher you haven’t met before approaches you two with a smile on their face.

“This is _____,” he introduces them. “You haven’t told SCP-666 your name yet, yes? Well, we discovered that _____ havs a very similar voice to you. So, we’ve decided to see if we can get SCP-666 to… attach itself to them like it is doing to you.”

 _A replacement?_ you think. You have not approached the cell’s windows yet so SCP-666 doesn’t know you’re here yet, so this could work but… The thought of making SCP-666 latch onto someone else makes you… uneasy.

“But of course,” the junior researcher speaks, surprised at how they do sound similar to you. “I believe that you know SCP-666 the best out of all of us, so do you deem this test safe?”

You turn to look at SCP-666 cell again, thinking about how it’ll hold someone else, embracing them in its care as SCP-666 purrs in its content. You’re reluctant to let this experiment go on, for a reason you don’t want to admit - _jealousy._ You want to make up some crap excuse that this won’t work, and that this shouldn’t go through. Then again, the main reason why researchers are to not research the same SCP within three weeks is due to emotion attachment which will cloud your judgement. You let out a sigh as you nod.

“I don’t know what will happen, but let’s see how this goes,” you say, feeling yourself tense at your own doubts.

\---

The researchers prep for the test, this time you stand far away and along the back walls. It’s dimly lit around the edges of the chamber, the lights of the tablets used to write notes illuminating the faces of the researchers. You stand and watch as the junior researcher approaches SCP-666 cell, pinching yourself at the suspense.

The researcher approaches the window to SCP-666’s cell and is immediately met with hostility. Smoke rises in aggression as SCP-666 hisses at them, but the junior researcher puts their hand up to the window, just like how you did in your last visit.

_They’ve been studying your actions._

“It’s okay,” they say, and when SCP-666 tilts their head in the sudden confusion, you shiver. A cold touch runs down your spine, instinctually making you wrap your lab coat around yourself. The researcher smiles.

“Do you remember that night? My name is _______, and I remember speaking to you when you were in pain.”

The tone, the pitch, the way you speak, is somehow perfectly imitated by this person. You feel even more unsettled. You watch as the smoke around SCP-666 begins to relax, floating down as SCP-666 observes this stranger. The researchers around you hum in approval, writing down notes as they nodded.

“I can’t give you humans to consume, but I hope the livestock is enough.”

SCP-666 shifts closer to the window, placing a tendril against the window where the researchers hand was.

“And… I’m sorry that I haven’t come forth sooner.”

The smoke begins to gather around the window, like arms leaning against the glass.

“_..._Li-,” SPC-666 hisses, the researchers gasping at its unexpected reply. The junior researcher leans closer towards the window, as if they were just about to form a connection, and you beginning digging your nails into your arm. It scares you now. The connection you gained with SCP-666… there was something special about it that you couldn’t define. The way it held you, the way it spoke to you. You truly believe that there’s something _much_ more to SCP-666 that you couldn’t describe. And the thought of taking that discovery away from you… terrifies you in some way. You look away, not wanting to watch the result when suddenly, an ear-piercing screech fills the air.

“_-LI__AAAAAR_!!!”

There’s a loud bang as SCP-666 begins to attack the window. You hear the junior researcher attempting to calm it down, but it doesn’t stop it from thrashing. Then you felt the hearts of the people around you skip a beat, when you hear the first resounding CRACK!

You glance for a brief second to see a crack spider out from where SCP-666 is hitting the window. The junior researcher backs away slowly in horror, unsure on whether to attempting to persuade it or to run. When they finally decide on running, it was already too late.

Shards of glass break away from the window, exposing a small crack as SCP-666 easily slips through. A tendril grasps out towards the junior researcher’s neck, pulling them towards itself as a ghostly face begins to form. The researcher attempts to break free, but they’re trapped and gasping for air as SCP-666 chokes them.

“LI_AR_RSS_S!” it shouts in their face, making them begin to cry in panic. You see the guards begin to surround SCP-666, holding up some sort of new technology that you haven’t seen before. And as they turn it on, you could see the smoke around SCP-666 begin to shimmer.

SCP-666 lets out a cry of pain and drops the researcher. It looks like it’s trying to hold itself together, but the smoke keeps splitting and shifting away from its central form. It cries again, this time it sounds familiar to what you’ve heard before. It’s the same tragic cry you’ve heard all those nights ago, when it was writhing in some unexplained agony. You can’t stand just watching this unfold, and you run into the fray. Just as you’re running towards SCP-666, you see a tendril rise and reel back, aiming towards the junior researcher still trying to escape.

“NO!” you shout, rushing to block the impact thinking that SCP-666 was going to strangle them again. But you were wrong. In the last moments before the tendril impacted, you briefly see it solidify, turning into a sharp, hardened claw like scythe. It glides across your upper torso, and there’s an instant of confusion, until you feel the searing pain of a gash across your chest. The pain shocks you, and you fall to the ground, holding your chest as you feel the warmth of your own blood beginning to pour out. The guards only increase the power in their technology, but even in your pain you reach out your bloodied hand, motioning them to stop. You cry out again and again, and in your disoriented state, you dive towards SCP-666, shielding it from whatever device was torturing it.

The guards eventually stop, and you feel SCP-666 regaining its strength as the smoke regather. There’s a silence that fills the room, a moment of suspense as SCP-666 seems to collect its thoughts. It looks down at you, just as you begin to feel faint. Another moment, then a gasp.

SCP-666 wraps its tendrils around you, embracing as it begins to call out. The room echoes in its screeches as SCP-666 looks around frantically, the researches still hidden in the shadows confused by the whole events that have transpired. It cradles you in its smoky arms, and as you begin to pass out you notice how each cry from SCP-666… becomes clearer. You close your eyes, the daze taking over your mind as hearing an unfamiliar man shouting in darkness.

“SOmEBodY! hElp! PLeasE!”

\---

You wake up, your body aching, and as you tried to sit up you feel a jolt of pain on your chest. A nurse immediately notices this and comes over to lay you back down.

“Please wait. I’m going to get the doctor, I’ll be right back,” the nurse says, before making their way out of the room. From the bed, you look around and recognise this as one of the SCP patient wards. It’s not uncommon to have incidents that require medical attention working in the SCP foundation, and they’ll always have trained medical staff on duty. After a few minutes of waiting, the nurse, followed by two other people, enter the room and greet you. Firstly, the doctor informs you of your injury. You passed out from shock and it’s currently 10am the next day. The cut SCP-666 inflicted on you was severe enough to require stitches, but not severe enough to damage your sternum. The sutures will disappear over a month or so. When the doctor finished talking, the researcher begins speaking to you.

“Regarding SCP-666 it… allowed us to repair its cell and obeyed basic instructions during the process, which is a surprise considering it didn’t pay any attention to us until now. Then again, abusing this temporary act of obedience ended up knocking out two of our researchers. In return it asked for double its food supply, which we can handle giving the increased interest in SCP-666 hence the increased budget, and… its asking to see you as soon as possible.”

“Did you feed it already?” you ask, the researcher nods. “Then I’ll go now.”

You slowly try to roll out of the bed, feeling the ache in your chest as you moved. But within a minute or so you find yourself slowly propping yourself onto your feet. The nurse and the doctor give worried glances between themselves as you slowly let go of your bed, and begin walking towards the door. Turns out the worried glances were for your attire, as the hospital gowns are quite breezy from behind, and you make a quick detour to your room before heading off towards SCP-666’s containment chamber.

The researcher is already there when you arrived, standing by a control panel as you stepped up to the cell. When you peer through the window you were expecting a cloud of smoke to greet you, or possibly the top half of a wraith floating. Instead, you see a more ‘complete’ form that you’ve never seen SCP-666 hold before. It was like looking at a shadow of a man, sitting against the wall with the occasional wisps of smoke parting from its body. The body is featureless, similar to what a mannequin looks like, but when SCP-666 finally notices your presence and looks up, it surprised you when you see a man’s face. The facial features are still quite washed out, but it’s still defined enough for you to recognise the gender it’s trying to portray. It stands up and walks towards the now repaired window, and signals you for it to enter the cell. You give a look of approval towards the researcher, and with a nod he preps the room for your entrance into its cell.

The moment you enter its cell, it instinctually reaches out to you, about to wrap its arms around to until it remembers your injury and backs off. Instead, it reaches towards your face, hands cupping your cheeks as you see its eyes dart around, as if its closely examining your face.

“What…. Are you doing?” you ask, unsure of its intentions. You could see the fingers are more defined this time, probably due to the increased food consumption, and you feel thumbs gently glide across your skin. Across your cheek, gently over your eyes, across your lips.

“It… was my mistake,” it says, you could hear the rumbling and whispering in each word it speaks, but it’s much clearer now. “I want to re_remember you… your face. So, I k_know…”

SCP-666 gently lifts your chin up, staring down at you intensely, like its drinking in every part of your appearance, trying forging a pristine image of the way you look into its own mind.

“Tell me…” it whispers, SCP-666’s hands gliding down from your cheeks, to your shoulders, then gently grasping your hands. “…. Your name?”

You tell it, and there’s a few seconds where SCP-666 whispers your name over and over again, imprinting your identity into its memory. You stare at SCP-666, you’ve never seen it be so… human before. You try to bring your hand up to cup its cheek, but it shies away, tilting its head away from you.

“Do you… know your name?” you ask, pulling your hand away from its face to grasp its hands again. There’s a pause where SCP-666 seems to ponder, you could see the scowl forming on its face.

“Y-you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” you blurt out, worried that you’re conflicting it, but instead it looks back at you with determination.

“G-Gabriel…”

Your eyes widen. Did SCP-666 knew that he was a human all along? Perhaps its memory is clouded by its lack of food. Or maybe it had a reason for not revealing its name… until now.

“Gabriel,” you reply to it. “Thank you for telling me, Gabriel.”

It lets out a small recoil when you say its name, probably unfamiliar with being addressed this way. But when Gabriel pulls you in for a gentle hug, doing its best to mind your wound, you could sense that he’s…. pleased.


	4. Experiment: Control

Your chest injury still hasn’t fully healed and you have a bit of a cough, but you’d rather use your time to be productive than just sit around in your quarters.

“Alright, can you spread your fingers out like this?” you ask as you stretch out your hand, SCP-666 watching closely and trying to do the same. With his food supply doubled, his fingers were able to remain mostly intact as he slowly stretched them out. Wisps of smoke would escape, but nonetheless, his solid form were showing signs of improvement.

“Good,” you say, giving him a smile as you hear Gabriel let out a pleased hum. “Alright, can you do… this?”

You begin lowering and raising each finger one by one slowly as Gabriel watches intently. He tries it, but you could see larger clouds of smoke begin to break away from his form as he tried to keep up with your pace. You notice this and slow your movement down, letting Gabriel get his form together.

“Good, good,” you say again. You look towards the window and give a nod to one of the observing researchers outside, and they nod back in approval, satisfied with the progress. You look back up to Gabriel.

“Now, time for your legs.”

You reach out and grasp his hands, letting your fingers intertwine with one another, and you slowly lead him into a starting dance position. There aren’t many things you could test his legs with in such a small room, so dancing seemed appropriate for this sort of experiment. You instruct him to move his left feet forward, like the beginning of a waltz, but much much slower. SCP-666 lifts his leg up awkwardly, before carefully placing it down again. You could see his feet begin to dissipate, but he’s still doing his best to maintain his form. You’re aware that Gabriel can just hover towards a location, but the formation of his legs and feet brought up many questions. Perhaps encouraging the movement of his ‘human’ form could lead to more discoveries. But you can’t do it for long though since its quite exhausting for him, and the less energy he has the moodier he seems to be.

“Alright, step out with your right leg,” you instruct him, guiding where he should step next.

He extends his right leg slowly, almost making it to his second step when he collapses under his own form, losing control over his foot. Your hands to slip through Gabriel’s now dispersed fingers and lose balance, about to fall over until he quickly sweeps under you in its non-corporeal form. You see his hands revert to simple tendrils that begin wrapping around your body, giving off a small apologetic whimper as he holds you gently in the air. You comfort him.

“It’s okay Gabriel, we can try that next week, alright?” you say as you slowly begin to stand up. You’re not allocated too much time with SCP-666 this week since you were asked to attend a meeting. The moment you release yourself from his embrace and begin walking towards the exit, you feel a different kind of embrace hold you instead. You see Gabriel’s arms reform, wrapping them around your body, but they’re… unstable, as you see them fluctuate in their strength and puffs of smoke erratically escape from its form.

“S_stay lo__nger… I can_... I can ho_ld it,” he says, fingers grasping onto your lab coat as you feel his arms beginning to lose strength and collapse.

“I’m sorry Gabriel, there’s a meeting I have to attend. But I’ll visit again next week, alright?” you say. Although its inspiring to see Gabriel working so hard, unfortunately your duties are calling as you glance out the window. A researcher outside points to their watch, signalling that the meeting will start soon.

You step outside his cell, giving him one final wave of goodbye before you head off. You see Gabriel slowly reform his hand, and even though it’s faltering, he manages to wave back. You can’t help but let out a smile.

“See you soon.”

\---

You were pulled into a meeting since the majority of man power in investigating SCP-666 is now elsewhere. After the revelation of finding out SCP-666’s name, people are now sorting through files and reports of dead and missing people named Gabriel. You’re seated at a table with a few other researchers you’ve met before, discussing your new findings with SCP-666.

“The thing that occurred to me about SCP-666,” one researcher states, folding their arms as they sit back on their chair, “is that it has never taken a form this close to a human before. You remember when we first retrieved it, or its first containment breach, we didn’t let it fully consume what it killed, but it was still a lot of deaths. Why show us its form now?”

“Perhaps SCP-666 is hiding something. There’s a high change that its more knowledgeable than we think,” a female researcher adds, fiddling with the handle to her mug of tea.

You feel your chest tighten for a second, and you let out a small cough. The researcher looks at you expectedly, as if she thinks you were going to add to the conversation, but you merely wave it off.

“Just a cough,” you whisper. The discussion continues.

“I believe that [Y/N] has given SCP-666 to reveal its more human form. Even so, we’ve noticed that its quite straining on SCP-666, and it would revert to its… smoky, loose form, usually a day or so before we feed it.”

“Should we increase its food intake then? It originally asked for five humans, why not double what we’re already feeding it?”

You cough again, and you drink some water to try and soothe your throat.

“We’re already pretty fortunate to have the budget for SCP-666 increase, I don’t think we should press the board for yet another increase in our budget.”

“Perhaps we should save up the budget and feed it large amounts on days with important tests?”

You can’t hold your cough in anymore, and you begin coughing into your sleeve in attempts to muffle the sound.

“Are you alright, [Y/N]?”

You wave it off again.

“It’s fine, I’m probably a little sick or something. I’ll go get some medicine in the sick bay later. So did we find any possible candidates in search of Gabriel’s identity so far?” you say, trying to keep the conversation going but the whole room has gone… silent.

The researchers give each other worried glances, before one speaks up.

“Did… you get examined after meeting with SCP-666 today?”

Your eyes widen, catching on to the worried expressions of the researchers around you.

 “No,” you say. “No, I haven’t checked up, I was rushing to get here.... I’ll go to the examination room now-“

“Wait.”

A researcher sits up, seemingly undisturbed by the whole scenario.

“There’s something you should know before I let you get examined. We also discovered recently that since SCP-666’s form is… constantly destroying and recreating itself. No matter how many samples we take of its smoke and ash, SCP-666 seems to never deplete in its mass. You know the security feed that we’ve allowed you to view in your room? Well, you’re not the only one who can see the feed, and despite nobody telling SCP-666 about how you were allowed access to the live security feed… it still acts as though you’re watching it.”

They cross their arms on the table, leaning onto it and sighing.

“We’ve…. Theorised that SCP-666 can… collect information from its residue, wherever it is, for a short period of time before it ‘fades’. Perhaps this is how it was able to overhear the conversation where you were allowed access to its security feed. And perhaps its listening to our entire conversation right now.”

Some of the researchers begin to sit up, some of them wanting to leave the room at the breach of privacy. The researcher continues to speak to you, not troubled by the rise in panic.

“I know you’ve finished up your tests with it today but I’d like to you visit SCP-666 now, ask it a few questions.”

You instinctually place your hand on your chest, feeling yourself breathe. You’re a bit scared that Gabriel had… implanted a part of itself in your lungs.

“But he wouldn’t do this on purpose, would he?”

“ _It_ might’ve done it on purpose. We don’t know until you ask. And besides, if it did do that to you on purpose, I believe it would only aggravate it if we removed it. It is quite clingy to you after all.”

They stand up from their seat, and so do the other around them. They gesture to you.

“Let’s return to the containment chamber, shall we?”

\---

As you return to SCP-666’s chamber, you see he was already waiting by the window. You don’t plan to enter his cell immediately, so you stand on the other side of the window, a look of disappointment on your face.

“Gabriel….” You say, unsure of how to confront him. You’ve put your trust in him to not…. do something like this to you. “When-?“

“For a wh_ile now,” he says, looking back at you. His answer shocks you. You initially though he did… this today, or at least last week. You feel yourself breath again, the ache in your lungs frightening you. You could see him ‘breathe’ in, the smoke beginning to converge and wrapping around itself before merging into his ‘human’ form.

“I know wh_at kind of things are in this place, I know all the risks th_at you ta_ke working here. You expect me to just wait patiently for you every we_ek while you’re close to these…. monsters?”

“But you know doing this to me can kill me, right?” you say bluntly. Just a small dose is enough to kill adults, how is this any different?

“I can co_ntrol how much-“

“It’s still dangerous, Gabriel.”

“Bett_er this than having a monster kill you!”

There’s silence between you two before Gabriel grumpily making his way to the corner of the room.

“Get in he_re, now,” he demands, getting into his position for you to enter his cell. But you stand your guard, hesitant in the breach of trust. After a while of stalling, Gabriel becomes agitated, rushing towards the window to bang on it, the sudden impact making you flinch.

“GET IN HERE NOW!” he growls as his human form begins tearing apart, smoke rising from his shoulders as he slowly falls apart. You hear the cluttering of pens of the researchers taking notes behind you, as well as the footsteps of guards becoming alert and slowly approaching the cell. You could feel the fear rise in you as you watch a broken man weakly claw against the window, his temper straddling the line between demanding and desperate. He collapses to the ground, still persistent in maintaining his form. Gabriel lets out a low growl of pain, but he’s doing his best to hide it.

“Gabriel stop! You don’t have to keep your form, its-!” you shake your head, quickly turning to the researchers behind you. “Let me in!”

As soon as the steel doors open, you immediately rush towards Gabriel still on the ground. When you’re close enough to him, he suddenly reaches out, grabbing your arm and pinning you to the ground. He stares down at you with his ‘face’, although its cracked in some places like scars across his skin.

“W_hat’s it g_oi_ng to t_ake?” he mumbles, you could feel the smoke of his fingers loosening and solidifying like he’s trembling. “I kn_ow I was human…. I K_NOW! B_ut…. Ho_w do I_I….”

He’s exhausted, his body returning to his wraith form. He lets go of you, letting you stand up as he hovers patiently. You cautiously watch him, his tired state will make him grumpier than usual, but he continues to float harmlessly, as if he’s brooding.

“Am I… A mo_nster to you?” he says, his words are distorted in his form, but you were able to notice his… sadness. To be honest, you’re not sure how to answer that question. You don’t see him as a monster, but he’s not a human either. He is a monster that has the potential to murder dozens within a minute, and yet, he can act like such an affectionate and caring person towards you. A part of him scares you, but a part of him makes you feel safe. You linger, your thoughts too double sided to give a definite answer. Gabriel sighs and slowly floats towards you, half way through returning to his smoky human form and walks towards you with his legs.

“I will remove it, come here,” he says as he reaches his hands out to cradle your cheeks. You were about to stop him from returning to his exhausting form, and as your mouth opened when you were about to speak, you felt lips press against yours.

You instinctually close your eyes, the sudden sensation of the kiss is disorientating. But as you lose yourself in this strange bliss, Gabriel kissing you… felt so human. As you keep your eyes closed, his hands, his lips, all radiated a comforting warmth that’s making your heart flutter unexpectedly. It didn’t last long though, and as he pulled away you could feel a rush of air escape from your mouth and the pain in your lungs is gone. There was an awkward pause after you snapped back to reality, but Gabriel simply gave you one final embrace before your departure.

“Yo_u’re mine…. If anyth_ing happened to you…! Just…. s_tay safe...” he says before he floats away to the corner, waiting for you to leave.

\---

After ending your visit with SCP-666, the researchers were much more thorough in examining any excess residue left on you. That includes taking all your clothes, combing through your hair, checking your mouth, and sending you through multiple scans to make sure you were clear. And as promised, there were no traces of him on you that was left.

His… affection towards you did not go unnoticed either. The researchers are deducing between themselves that an SCP capable of having the ability to love is certainly rare. And as they bicker amongst themselves the new possibilities, you turn to ask one of them a question.

“Do you think… it’s possible to turn Gabriel back human?”

They give uncertain looks between each other, before one speaks up. You expected them to give you a reply, but instead they change the topic.

“Please address SCP-666 as SCP-666 if you’re not currently running a test with it,” they say, giving a worried look. “This… emotional attachment can be dangerous. Please, be cautious from now on.”


	5. Experiment - Concluded

“The good news is that with its increased food consumption, it seems to be more ‘civil’ and, with the good will of [Y/N], it now answers basic questions we ask it. It gets agitated if we do, but at least we don’t have to wait every week to ask it simple things. The thing is though….”

The researcher puts down their report momentarily to give you a glance.

“… The search for SCP-666’s human identity is slow, since searching for a person with just a first name is usually not enough. We haven’t been able to receive a last name from SCP-666. We suspected it was smarted than we originally though, so despite it claiming that it forgot its name, there’s a chance it’s just abstaining this information. But even you…”

You fiddle with your fingers, looking down at the table.

“Yes,” you sigh. “Even Ga- SCP-666 won’t tell me his full name.”

_What does Gabriel have to hide?_

“Perhaps it was a criminal while it was human? Perhaps it is ashamed of what it was before SCP-666 turned into its current state,” one researcher inquires.

“Well, [Y/N],” a researcher speaks up, catching your attention. “We understand that this is a sensitive topic to bring up for SCP-666, we can schedule you to bring it up maybe every fortnight or once every three weeks perhaps.”

You bring your fingers together, pinching your own skin as you dwell in your thoughts. _You don’t know how to treat Gabriel in this situation. You’ve seen him cry, you’ve seen him lash out, but to tackle the source of this… suffering, you don’t know what to do. If you shatter him, break his emotions, there’s a chance-_ You instinctually run your hand over your chest, feeling the bump of your scar – _that he’ll kill you. Then there’s stalling the question, never stepping over the line of hurting his emotions, and Gabriel will continue to… be in pain._

“[Y/N]. are you alright?”

You bring yourself back to reality and begin to feel the sting on your palms, your nails digging themselves too harshly into your own skin.

“I’m fine,” you lie, quietly listening to the discussion until the meeting ends.

\---

You’re about to sleep, your mind plagued with endless thoughts. You reach over to your nightstand for an owl plushie you got as a present a few years ago. It’s soft fur comforts you, holding it close to your body as you try to sleep when you hear a familiar purring. As if Gabriel sensed your troubled state, he’s letting out that soothing hum from the computer. _You remember something._

_SCP-666 can collect information from its residue._

How long it can collect information however, was unclear. You cautiously make your way to your dimmed computer screen in your darkened room, still holding the plushie to your chest. You gulp.

“G-Gabriel, can you hear me? Wait- “you say, stopping yourself. “Don’t do anything out of the ordinary yet, they might start inspecting my room for your smoke if you do.”

He doesn’t do anything as you said, or maybe he can’t hear you at all and you’re just being delusional. You try again.

“If… you can hear me…. Let out a deep breath…” you hesitantly say. There’s a pause, until… you see his smoke expand, and then exhale, doing just as you asked.

_Gabriel…_

You felt your emotions well up. A place where you can speak to Gabriel without being monitored, without being judged. You speak as you hold the plushie closer to your chest.

“Listen to me, Gabriel. I know you were a human, and I see you as a human. But, if we don’t get any concrete evidence that you are a person, they’re going to keep treating you like… a monster. I don’t know why you would hide your identity, I know you know who you are… but again… I…”

You notice the purring has stopped, Gabriel entering a contemplative state as he hovers gently in the air in his simple form.

“… I don’t want to force you. I want to respect you, care for you…”

You feel your body tense, tears welling up in your eyes. You could sense a person in there, who you know cares for you back. Coincidences leading one after another until eventually creating this bond between you two.

“So please trust in me, because I lo-“

BANG!

There’s a sudden cloud of smoke as your room door swings open, the loud noise rings your ears as you fall to the ground at the shock. You hear hurried footsteps approach you, men grabbing and restraining your arms as you instinctually start to struggle. After the initial smoke and confusion clears, you see two familiar researchers standing by your doorway, the ones that informed you of your place in the SCP watch list. The woman sighs.

“Prepare [Y/N] for interrogation, then go assist in SCP-666’s inevitable containment breach.”

As you’re being dragged away, you take a last look at the monitor. Gabriel is thrashing against the walls, screaming and shouting as several guards begin to surround his cell.

\---

Your clothes were burned and replaced with a standard robe for you to wear. You were shivering in your seat, alone in the interrogation room, as they just forced you through a thorough shower and combed through all your hair for any traces of SCP-666. You’re aware of the sensors that are equipped in these rooms, and they’re probably running scans on you right now. After a few minutes of waiting alone, the two researchers speak to you behind a thick opaque glass pane.

“Well. You’re not influenced by anything SCP-666 did to you, but your emotions…” the man says inquisitively, hearing the flipping of pages as he hummed.

“How?!” you shout, distraught with everything that’s going on. “How the hell did you know I was talking to him?!”

On the glass pane, a shimmering projection displays your room. There’s a brief moment of static, before it replays the entire conversation you had with Gabriel from a seemingly hidden camera set up in the top corner of your room.

“T-That’s a breach of privacy!” you shout, slamming the table in anger.

“That is what’s to be expected for being on the watch list. You must surely understand that here at the SCP Foundation we strive in maintaining the safety of- “

Their interrupted by hushed voices over the speakers, there’s a few seconds of whispering before they continue.

“- Our researchers here. You would understand the dangers of this sort of activity, wouldn’t you?”

“But I’m not an SCP!” you protest.

“We know that. But your connection with SCP-666 still puts everyone at risk. We appreciate the progress you’ve made with it, but you’ve failed to maintain your professionalism several times, allowing yourself to become emotionally attached to it. There’s a chance SCP-666 has been using your feelings towards it against us, and that’s a chance we don’t want to take.”

There’s a brief pause, before the male researcher speaks up again.

“We’re going to revert SCP-666’s food intake and discourage any actions that deem human-like. Your presence will be introduced to it 20 minutes every three weeks, after that, you will be escorted out and restricted from its containment cel- “

More hushed whispers are passed around, sounding more urgent that before. The male researcher clears his throat before continuing.

“- This will be your schedule after we recondition you.”

You felt yourself freeze up. You’ve heard of reconditioning, where the weak minded researchers are sent to have their emotions dulled, becoming mindless workers for the SCP Foundation. You walk past some of them occasionally, and their presence does disturb you, after all, they’re just walking, working husk of a human.

“You’re allowed to say your goodbyes to any family and friends outside the SCP Foundation, but mention anything and the call will be halted, and we will send people to hunt the person you contacted down.”

“You can’t do this…” you whimper, unsure of how to escape this situation. You’re locked in, you’re being watched, and as you try and think of any kind of defence, the projector flashes up a semi-familiar contract.

“In fact, we can. You signed agreeing to these terms when you joined the SCP Foundation. By signing this contract, you understand the necessarily precautions in keeping society away from discovering SCPs.”

You hold your head in torment, clutching into your own skull as you felt rage rise within you. When you joined, you always promised yourself that you would not be foolish enough to have this happen to you, but for it to actually happen to you… it-

There’s a muffled bang, then another, as you felt the room shiver. You could sense the researchers on the other side beginning to feel worried, but you feel yourself reassure at the tremors.

_Gabriel…_

You spin around towards the door as you hear a deafening creaking of metal as you watch a shadowy claw prying it open. After the whining of bending metal, the hinges snap off, leaving the door to clatter to the ground. Standing by the doorway, with a couple of bodies lying lifelessly behind him, was Gabriel.

You wanted to smile at his appearance, that he’ll whisk you away from this nightmare and take you to a safe place. But being the researcher you are, you know it’s not that simple. He gives you a glance, maintaining his smoky human form, before staring right through the observation glass.

“Revoke your order to recondition [Y/N],” Gabriel said firmly, speaking to the researchers on the other side of the glass. No reply.

He makes his way towards you, instructing you to stand up so he could hold you, wrapping arms around your body. You notice how well kept his form is, his voice still has a growl with each word, but his speech isn’t breaking.

_He must’ve killed a lot to get this stable._

There’s more silence, before the speakers buzz on.

“… Well. The SCP Foundation takes the recondition process very seriousl-”

“I know,” Gabriel reaffirms. “I understand the extent that the SCP Foundation goes to keep your damned organisation quiet. I know you won’t just _talk_ to [Y/N]’s family and close friends. You’re going to do much more to make [Y/N] disappear from the eyes of the world.”

“Then what do you have to offer? Surely something convincing enough to revoke the order as well as the death of several staff members?”

Gabriel tighten his grip on you for a second, before letting go of you and walking towards the window.

“Perhaps…” the female researcher says. “… the exchange of information? You seem to be more knowledgeable of yourself than anything we’re discovered from tests. The SCP Foundation has never truly figured out an SCP’s existence or purpose, perhaps you can be the first SCP to -?”

There’s a hesitant glance that Gabriel gives you, before nodding his head towards the researchers.

“Very well.”

You feel a thin layer of smoke all over the ground you didn’t notice at first begin to pull itself towards Gabriel. It was a lot of smoke than you’ve seen him manifest, and as the smoke begins to converge more and more, your eyes widen when – yes, you know Gabriel is able to make himself a human form – but his usual smoky exterior has… colour. You could see his fingertips slowly turn into actual skin, then his hands, then his arms. The smoke continues to wrap around him as it merges into _real_ human skin. You see him clutch his hands, groaning as he’s merging his form. He continues to clearly form his body, solidifying his upper torso, his shoulders, his neck, then….

A face of a…. somewhat familiar man. Then you see the details in the body begin to appear, as a featureless body begins to crack, littering the whole body with an array of scars. You no longer see the monster that you thought you were so familiar with, for he was indistinguishable from a human. No smoke, so ghostly appearance, he stands there as a man.

There’s a moment where he seems to compose himself, before speaking up.

“Gabriel Reyes, my full name is Gabriel Reyes.”

You jolt at the moment of realisation. You’ve heard the stories of Overwatch, how it rose and fell. And Gabriel, you’ve seen him on TV, saving the world until all the controversy destroyed them. This whole time, a hero, was by your side.

“Well… that’s a shame, but I guess we will redact [Y/N]’s reconditioning.”

 “A shame?” you sputter, surprised at their reaction. You look to Gabriel for assurance, but he doesn’t do anything. Instead, he hangs his head low, not moving from where he stands. “Gabriel, what-?”

There’s a suspenseful silence before Gabriel speaks to you.

“When I was in the military, I went through something called the Soldier Enhancement Program- “

“- Which,” the researcher interrupts, “is a highly classified program. Unless we get approval from an extremely complicated process to the UN and the military, we have no authority to perform any tests on SCP…. Gabriel Reyes.”

“You wouldn’t want the UN or the military to catch wind of this, wouldn’t you?” he says.

Gabriel walks a bit past you, facing his naked body away from you as he grasps your hand from behind. The sensation of Gabriel’s real skin is perplexing, but as you slowly ran your thumb through the callouses and the small scars on his hand, you felt amazed at how _real_ he actually is. You look up at him, a smile on your face thinking that the night would be over, but instead, there’s a sad look on his face.

“Gabriel?” you ask him. He doesn’t reply, instead, he slowly pulls his hand away from you, standing emotionlessly by the doorframe.

“It’s quite disappointing that we found the answers we asked for, but… you understand we’ll have no more reason to run experiments on you any more, correct?”

There’s a pause, then a nod from Gabriel.

“… Very well. We have no more reason to increase SCP-666’s budget. In fact, we’ll spend just enough to sustain it-”

“Gabriel what- “you try to reach out for him, but he brushes you away.

“You don’t have to visit me anymore, for your own safety.”

_Why? But…_

You try to reach out again, but this time he aggravatingly grabs your arm. You see his skin begin to fall apart, a familiar smoke rising from his body.

“I’m… still a danger. I… can’t just leave,” he says. His voice sounded stern, but you could catch hints of his sadness dwelling in his voice. “The SCP Foundation will keep me contained, keep me away from people…”

_But why? Gabriel-_

He grasps you by the shoulders, holding you as you stared into in each other’s eyes. There’s a sorrowful look on his face, before he leans in, giving you a kiss before walking out of the interrogation room. You see his form beginning to fall apart, turning back to his smoky wraith form.

In the midst of your thoughts spiralling into chaos, you here the wisps of his words echo in your ears before you are left in silence.

“… Goodbye…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end just yet, stay tuned :)


	6. A Chance at Salvation

You jolt awake from your slumber, your bed dishevelled from the way you tossed in your sleep and your cheeks sticky with dried tears. A part of you wished that everything that happened with Gabriel was just a dream, but when you turned on your computer monitor, all you saw was an emptied room, cleared out and prepared for construction for the next SCP to be contained in there. You felt the familiar ache of grief swell in your chest again, and you turn off the monitor. The now blank screen reflects your face, revealing the dark circles around your eyes. You try to recall the way Gabriel hummed, how he sung you to sleep, but all you end up hearing is your own sobbing – begging for days to return to what they were.

Fortunately, the SCP Foundation recognised your inability to work in your emotional state and gave you a few days off. It did give you time to get your thoughts together, but now you needed a new purpose. A few days later you’re situated at a table again, discussing the closure of SCP-666’s case. A researcher is standing up, reading from their notes. No mention of Overwatch or Gabriel Reyes was to be brought up.

“This our theory to why SCP-666 suddenly became so attached to you. Firstly, it’s low energy state seems to make his thoughts and behaviour become very instinctual and basic. Secondly, SCP-666 must have gone through a high amount of emotional stress before becoming what it is. It is possible that the subject never received enough emotional support or comfort, making it unstable and violent. Therefore, the moment you showed a small amount of kindness towards SCP-666, it immediately latched on to you as its source of comfort.”

“That… makes sense,” you agree despondently. “Even though I didn’t speak much when I first met him, he became so attached to me so quickly.”

The researcher sighs.

“Although there are still many unanswered questions left, this is as much we can summarise with SCP-666. That concludes today’s meeting.”

Even though many of the researchers felt like they did all they could for this case, you beg to differ. You quickly pace back to your room with the desire to finish reading your own research.

After your moment of grieving, you began to think of ways you could help Gabriel. You read about the founding of Overwatch, how the commander title was passed from Gabriel Reyes to Jack Morrison, how Gabriel Reyes was the leader of Blackwatch, and how Overwatch fell. At first glance, it seemed petty how Gabriel drove Overwatch to fall from just his jealousy towards Jack Morrison. But after reading about Blackwatch, you realised how difficult it must’ve been to do Overwatch’s dirty work in the shadows with no recognition. The amount of criminals, high stakes mission, and illegal activity he had to go through must’ve been so hard.

Working in an organisation like this made him a broken man; broken to the point where a simple question from you made him so attached to you.

You instinctually glance at your lab coat resting on the chair beside you.

_Working in the shadows of society. No recognition. Delving into nightmares to uncover the truth._

_The SCP Foundation is not so different._

The world believes that Gabriel Reyes is dead when his battle with Jack Morrison exploded the Overwatch base in Switzerland. But as you continue to read, something catches you eye, and you begin to wonder.

_Is it possible for him to actually survive that explosion?_

You spend the next couple of days talking to your superiors. And after you got your approval for your work leave, you bought your plane tickets and immediate went on your search for Dr. Angela Ziegler.

\---

As the former medical head of Overwatch, you expected her to work in some high tech medical facility. However, after a lot of asking and research, you eventually tracked her down in the Middle East, tending to people’s medical needs.  After even more asking and emails, you finally have the honour of meeting her in her tent. She stands by her desk when you walk in, placing a file onto a neat pile before standing up to greet you. After she shakes your hand, Angela gestures you to your chair and sits down in the chair opposite you, notepad in lap. A bit of her fringe falls in front of her face, which she gently brushes aside before giving you a smile.

“So, I’ve heard about the lengths you’ve gone through to meet me, while stressing how confidential this conversation needs to be. Well, what could I do for you?” she says with a pen ready in hand, attentively listening to what you’re about to say.

“Ah yes,” you say. Even though you thought you planned out the whole conversation in your head, it’s not as easy as it seems in reality. “So… you used to be a part of Overwatch, right?”

“Yes, I did,” she sighs, a small crack appearing on her smiling face.

“Then… did you know Gabriel Reyes?” you ask, unsure if it was the right decision to be this forward right now.

She shakes her head, letting out another sigh before looking back at you, her smile disappearing.

“I’m pretty sure I made it clear that I will not give interviews on what happened with Overwatch. I don’t know what television station you’re from but- “

“Oh no, no, no,” you wave your hands, trying to dissolve the misunderstanding. “I’m not a reporter, I promise. In fact, I’m a researcher.”

“Same words. Researcher. Reporter. You’re not the first to attempt setting up a confidential chat only to – “

“I already know about Overwatch,” you interrupt, “but the only thing I don’t know is what happened to Gabriel Reyes.”

You can see her friendliness fade. It’s understandable though, you could imagine that after all the interviews she had to shoo away that she would become skeptical of some people. She puts her pen down on her notepad, loosely crossing her arms.

“What is your connection to him? Why do you want to know about him?” she asks defensively.

You take a glance at the tent around you, it’s risky to speak of the SCP Foundation in such an unsecure place. There’s also a chance that there’s a hidden recording device somewhere, but you’re unsure.

“For someone who was a part of Overwatch, you understand how important it is to keep secrets, yes?”

Her eye twitches.

“I am from one of these… secrets, with a similar motive to Overwatch as well.”

You give another glance around the tent, your eyes guiding hers around the room.

“Is it… safe to speak about these secrets here?”

“Again, the urgency act. I said no- “

You roll your eyes and lean in, gesturing her to come closer to you. She’s annoyed, but eventually she sighs and complies. She leans in enough for you to whisper in her ear.

_Soldier Enhancement Program. I don’t have access to information of it, but my organisation has enough power to at least know its name._

Her eyes narrow. After a few seconds of thought, she lets out a loud sigh before making her way to her desk. She opens a drawer, takes out a device, and seemingly turned it off. After placing it back to where it was and shutting the drawer, her attention reverts to you.

“This is a precaution just in case I needed evidence to sue; it should be fine to speak now. So, you really weren’t bluffing,” she says, leaning against the side of her desk.

“Do you know about the current state of Gabriel Reyes?” you ask again, more determined this time.

“He’s dead,” she shakes her head, “He died in the explosion that happened in Switzerland. It was all over the news, you should have heard about it on television.” You notice she’s avoid eye contact with you. Does she have something to hide?

You tilt your head, “I don’t think you’re telling me the truth. I know about your invention – the Caduceus staff? You could’ve gotten to him in time and healed him- “

“I didn’t,” she firmly protests. “There’s a limit to what technology can do. When I got to him it was too late, he was already dead.”

“But did you at least try? You wouldn’t know he was gone until you tried?”

She pauses, before glaring at you with new found skepticism.

“You still haven’t told me about your relationship with Gabriel Reyes? Why are _you_ so intent on knowing about him?” she says, crossing her arms as she doesn’t keep her glare off you.

“I know him personally,” you say. Angela pinches the bridge of her nose.

“- And no family or friends. Like I said, Gabriel is dead and there’s nothing more I can tell you, even if you did know him personally.”

“Another misunderstanding,” you rebut, sitting forward in your seat. “I met Gabriel… recently.”

Angela gives you a curious look, crossing her arms again as she stands up straight.

“How recently?” she asks, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve.

“The last time I spoke with him was…. A fortnight ago.”

“But that’s not possible,” she denies. She makes her way back to the seat opposite to you and sits down. “Are you sure it wasn’t an imposter. A fake?” she asks in a serious tone.

“I wouldn’t have tracked you down if I wasn’t sure,” you say confidently.

“And… how is he?” she asks, her hands clasping tensely together.

“Not… not good. Not good at all. In fact, I was hoping you could help him.”

“Help him?” she exclaims, her brows furrowing. There’s still a part of her that’s in disbelief.

“Please, Dr. Ziegler. If you know anything that happened to Gabriel, I need to know,” you say determinedly.

She shakes her head, muttering under her breath and deep in thought.

“A trade. A trade of information. You still haven’t answered my question. Answer mine first, and I will disclose what you want. What is your connection with him?”

You lean back in your chair, beginning to sequence events together in your mind in a way that’s still confidential.

“When I first met him, he was… ill. He was always in pain. To be in less pain he has to consume by killing live things- “

You catch a glimpse of her eyes widening, slightly leaning in to engage with your recollection more.

“- He grew attached to me as I tried to help him through what he was going through, and we were making progress on understanding his condition. But… I made a mistake.”

You shake your head and chuckle at yourself, feeling ashamed that Gabriel had to reveal his identity for your mistakes.

“I can no longer help Gabriel, and as far as I know he’s… rotting away in some cell. He doesn’t deserve to be treated the way he is right now, but he understands he’s a threat to society in his current state, so please help _us_.”

Angela sits back in her seat, contemplating on your words.

“You’ve done your research. Are you sure he’s not just using you to set him free from wherever he’s trapped?” she says with concern. You think back to when he revealed his identity. Rather than using his position of power to let himself be free, he did save your life and willingly placed himself in the hands of the SCP Foundation. Then again, did he foresee that you would try to look for a ‘cure’ for his condition?

“I’m honestly not sure,” you say, “But not only did he save the world from the Omnic Crisis, he technically did save my life too. I don’t believe he is a bad person, and I don’t believe that he deserves to suffer through what he is right now.”

There’s a moment where you two sit in silence, before Angela takes in a deep breath.

“Yes. Yes, you’re right. I did try to revive him, even if it was too late,” she says.

You look at her with surprise on your face, contrasting her dark grimace as she looks down, her fringe shielding a part of her face in shadow.

“Even though Gabriel was part of Overwatch, I could not do any medical examinations on him because of the Soldier Enhancement Program. I knew about the benefits that people acquire from this program, but the specifics on how it was achieved must be kept silent.

So, when I saw him lying amongst the rubble, I knew he was dead. But this… enhanced part of his body, Caduceus kept showing me that he was still alive, and I could save him. I knew tampering with his body was wrong since the soldiers aren’t allowed a proper burial. Their bodies had to be destroyed to prevent any enemies from stealing the secret, but Gabriel… Deep down he is a good man, and I didn’t want to let him die, so I revived him, but something went terribly wrong.

The healing from Caduceus and whatever they got from the Soldier Enhancement Program didn’t mix well. Gabriel was fine and alive at first, yes, but after a while he started having… episodes. He would suddenly collapse and be dead, then wake up a few minutes later in pain. I wanted to examine his body and help him, violation of the Soldier Enhancement Program be damned, but he disappeared before I could do anything.”

She takes in a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders she didn’t realise she was tensing.

“It’s been a few of years since he vanished, and I guess this is where you come into the story?” Angela says.

You give her a small nod before you two sit in silence again. Both of you have said what you needed to, and neither of you have anything else to say to each other, until your eyes widen at a thought.

“Are you able to reverse Caduceus’ effect?”

“Huh?” she mutters, looking up at you.

“When I examined Gabriel, his form seemed to be infinite. Maybe the power of your Caduceus is still affecting him.”

“This is something that I’ve considered, but it’s risky,” she says as she shakes her head, “Caduceus is supposed to wear off after the patient has fully healed, so it makes sense that it would still linger within him if he’s never properly healed.”

“Then can you heal him properly?” you ask, “Take away the power of Caduceus, patch him up properly. Maybe that can save him.”

“His death isn’t just him collapsing,” Angela says seriously, “He took an explosion to his body. Not only is there shrapnel, but he probably has fractures and internal bleeding from the falling debris, as well as injuries from when he fought Jack. The moment I take Caduceus away from him, his chances of surviving is… almost impossible.”

“And what? Just leave him as he is right now? Dying every damned second and suffering through the pain of it all?” you object, “Even if we didn’t save him… at least he’ll be able to find peace in a proper death.”

“That is not for you to decide, but the patient’s,” Angela says. “I am willing to do this to redeem the mistake that I made in the past, you need to ask Gabriel- “

“But I can’t just ask him! He’s locked away and I don’t think I’ll ever get the opportunity before he loses his mind completely,” you shout, getting aggravated at the whole scenario.

“Then are you absolutely sure this is what he wants?” she asks seriously, her fingers locked together as she awaits your response.

_I’m going to save you, Gabriel._

“Yes.”

\---

You and Angela begin planning your next steps. You gave her a rough idea of the area where she should set up, somewhere that isn’t too close to the SCP Foundation or too far away that Gabriel might not be able to make it. You two also figure out a way in which you can contact each other without raising suspicion from your “organisation”. It takes almost a full day to finish the plans and preparations for the upcoming operation, and when it’s all finished she bids you farewell.

As you’re on the plane, returning to your work at the SCP Foundation, you feel uplifted for the first time in a while with this newfound hope of saving Gabriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a lot longer to write because I wasn't sure how I was going to approach 'reader'. Since this is supposed to be a reader-insert, I'm trying to make this character as relatable as possible, but what I noticed in my drafts was that their reactions would become too generic and dull. I tried giving 'reader' a lot more life and character development and I think this version turned out the best. Thank you for your patience and thank you for reading :)


	7. Now or Never

When you returned to the SCP Foundation, you went back in work in hopes to rediscover your bearings in this place. Before you knew it, it was back to work as usual except you were keeping an eye out for which cell could be Gabriel’s. You have a feeling you’re still being watched, so all you could do right now is to mark out the cells which are not Gabriel’s during work. Considering there are almost a thousand cells, you’re aware it’s going to take a long time, but you still need to stay inconspicuous. Asking for which one is SCP-666’s cell will surely put you back in an interrogation room, and all personnel access to cells are recorded, so you’ll surely be questioned if you keep prodding around cells while you’re off duty.

After a fortnight, you’ve only been assigned to participate in eleven experiments, and you’re already starting to feel impatient. You’re unsure how long Angela can wait, and you’re not sure how long Gabriel can last in his cell. So, early in the morning, while everyone is waking up and security is low compared to the night shifts, you make you way to a corridor. Lined along the pristine white walls are heavy metal doors with the cell number marked on them. You wander close to each door, doing your best to listen for any signs that it might be him. Some doors are entirely quiet, some have eerie scratching or moaning sounds on the other side, but nothing that sounds like Gabriel.

“[Y/N]!” someone calls out to you, their voice loudly echoing in the hallway making you flinch. You expected guards with guns trained on you, ready to apprehend you, but when you turn around all you saw was a lone researcher. You mentally prepare the excuses you planned if this ever happened, but you don’t get the chance as the researcher cuts you off before you could speak.

“Come to my office, now,” the male researcher demands. They turn around and walk away, but in that short time you looked at him, you recognised him as the man that was there when Gabriel revealed his identity.

\---

You’re sitting awkwardly in his office as he types away at his keyboard for a few minutes. You’re feeling yourself tense up at the thought of failing this whole plan. You begin to blame yourself. Maybe you should’ve hacked the system, find out the location that way. Or maybe you should’ve kidnapped someone and get it over and done with. Maybe you should’ve-

“Well?” His voice snaps you out of your thoughts. “Are you going to ask me about seeing SCP-666?” he says, propping up his glasses. You give him a confused look.

“Sir, I don’t know what you mean,” you say, shaking your head as you act aloof. He stands up from his desk and paces around the room.

“It might look like we took you off the watch list ever since SCP-666’s case was solved, but I decided to keep you on it because I knew it would lead to this. You said you were visit relatives, and I’m certain that you’re not related to Dr. Angela Ziegler.”

He walks towards you, dropping a file in front of you. You read through it and you realise he has records of the emails you sent trying to find Angela under another name, train and plane tickets you got under another fake alias - they saw through your whole façade.

He sits back down at his desk, rests his elbows on his desk and knots his fingers together.

“Talk.”

“Are you going to recondition me anyway then?” you ask, trying to act tough when really you can feel yourself trembling at the thought.

“Just tell me everything you discussed with Angela Ziegler, and I’ll be the judge of that,” he says.

“Just to be clear, sir,” you say. You take in a deep breath and try to steel yourself, “I did not mention the SCP Foundation whatsoever. I kept this organisation as anonymous as possible.”

He gives a nod of acknowledgement. “I’m aware of that. I read all the emails and listened to all the phone calls you participated in.”

You cringe a bit, bothered at the breach of privacy, before continuing with your rebuttal.

“Angela and I believe we can ‘cure’ Gabriel of what he is right now. But in order to keep the SCP Foundation safe, the place where she set up the operation is a 30-hour drive. Of course, given if I can even get Gabriel out of his cell,” you say as you cross your arms, watching the researcher’s expression for any signs, but he remains emotionless.

“Getting food for SCP-666 will be another trouble I’m afraid. It’ll be obvious that something’s happening when we suddenly order a lot of produce for it,” he says. You give him a confused gaze by the way he’s playing along with this. “Or you could just simple kill the guards on your way out, that would be the least suspicious.”

“Sir!” you exclaim. “We can’t just murder our guards like that.”

“Why not?” he says, shrugging at your objection. “SCP-666 has done it many times before. You do know we hire dishonest men and women for our guards, right? Get criminals out of the death penalty, giving hopeless people a chance at a life; they’re indebted to the SCP Foundation.”

You grimace at the thought. _This is probably why the SCP Foundation encourages emotionlessness. Ruthlessness._

“And when you’re done with all this change your name, go in hiding, don’t ever come back to the SCP Foundation. We have many researchers like you in this facility and we’ll hire many more. We’ll forget about your existence in a few years.”

“What do you mean, sir?” you ask, a bit stunned at his whole suggestion. “Do you actually approve of me breaking Gabriel out of his cell?”

He sighs, before typing something on his computer for a few seconds until there’s a satisfying beep sound.

“You now have access to where SCP-666 currently is. Just continue with your plans and get it out of here,” he says and leans back on his chair. You stand up cautiously, unsure of why he’s assisting you in such a risky operation. He notices your expression and inhales.

“You are unfit to work in the SCP Foundation, and yet you’ve played a major part in resolving the first SCP case. Consider this your resignation as well as correcting the unsatisfactory resolution of SCP-666’s case,” he says. He tilts his head forward, signalling you to leave the room. You mutter him a brief thank you, but he shakes his head.

“You and your gratitude. Just get SCP-666 and yourself out of here. And don’t mention this conversation to anyone, I don’t want to end up responsible,” he scoffs, before going back to work.

_Correcting SCP-666’s resolution?_

You can’t help but think you’re being used for a greater purpose, but what choice do you have? You’re just hoping that it’s a win-win situation at this point.

\---

You mark out the day where Gabriel will get his meal, as well as plan to visit him at night since that’s when all the researcher’s shifts end. As heartless as you feel about this, there will definitely be casualties amongst the guards, but you still try to think of ways to keep it at a minimum. You give a final look around your room, most of it has been cleared out when you were captured for interrogation, but it still had some of your personal effects left around. You wear two layers of clothes, planning to discard the first layer when you escaped, and leave your room.

You make your way to Gabriel’s cell, your hands sweating and your shoulders tense as you avoid eye contact with the guards. Luckily, his cell is in a somewhat secluded area, so no guards are around when you open the door. You feel your heart begin to beat faster as you enter the room, torn between anticipation and fear in seeing Gabriel again. You’re uncertain how this living state has affected Gabriel, and you do your best to be quiet.

The moment you enter, you already hear the low growling from the cell further into the room. This time, it has no windows, only a solid concrete cell with the steel double doors. You look down and you see bones and ash on the ground from the lack of service to his cell, and when your foot accidentally tramples a bone, the cracking under your shoe makes Gabriel growl louder.

“Gabriel?” you say, nervous about his constant show of hostility, “Gabriel, it’s me.”

There’s a slam at the door, followed by a strained muffled voice.

“I_I T_oLd y-Ou t_O n_EVE_r SE_E M_E----___AG-AIN!” he growls, his voice cracking and hissing in places.

“I know, but I believe I found a way to ‘cure’ you,” you say, making your way to the console on the wall, preparing to open the door.

“I_I’m a M-ONsTe_r, Yo_U cAn_’t cURE m_E!,” Gabriel screeches, “Y-Ou cAN-T___ ARGH!”

You hear the steel door begin to unlatch, a small amount of smoke begins to seep through the gap, but not as much as you expected. You look into the cell and see the entirety of the space filled with smoke. There’s a constant flow that seeps from the bottom and disappears in the air. The moment Gabriel see’s you, he almost forces himself to back away into the corner, keeping himself away from you. You extend your hand out to him, trying to gently coax him out.

“It’s okay, Gabriel,” you say softy, calming him down as he’s still pressed against the opposite wall. “We’re leaving this place now, alright?”

There’s a moment where you see the smoke begin to form around a point, Gabriel using his energy to try and speak with you better.

“H-How t_ThEN?”

“I spoke with Angela Ziegler,” you say. The moment you say her name, you can see him reel back.

“WHA_T BUSINE_SS DO Y_YOU HA_VE WITH HE_R?” he growls, the smoke around the central point beginning to erratically break apart and reform.

“I know what happened to you, Gabriel. I talked with Angela, we might be able to… make you human again. The procedure will be risky and I know this is selfish of me but… I’d rather give this a chance than you see you suffer like this,” you say. He seems to have calmed down, his form still pressed against the back wall.

“Gabriel, please,” you plead.

“_Wh_at about y_our li_FE? Yo-u’LL be H-UnTeD DoWN- “

“I’m ready to leave my life behind and hide, Gabriel. Don’t worry about me.”

You still sense hesitation in him. His form is slowly moving towards the threshold, but he still lingers in his cell.

“Gabriel?” you say, catching his attention before you give him a heartfelt smile. “I love you. Let’s leave this place together.”

There’s a moment of silence until you see a small tendril from the dark smoke extend forward. You watch it gently wrap around your hand, then it suddenly yanks you forward, making you tumble into the smoke. There’s a moment of panic where you feared you were too late, and that Gabriel has lost his mind. But instead, you feel a familiar warmth wrap around your body. The tendril around your hand begins to solidify, as Gabriel forms a hand and gives you a reassuring squeeze.

“C-CaN you R-r-ReALLy-?”

“Let’s go,” you say. With no time to lose you hold Gabriel’s hand and lead him out of the cell. The moment you’re out, you see the nearby guards go on alert and begin shouting. You hear the clicking of holsters as they take out their guns, followed by shouting and screaming as Gabriel glides past you, taking out the guards with ease. He stands amongst the dead bodies for a second, and you could already see his form improving.

“I h-hope you kn_ow what you’re do_ing,” he says, flexing his limbs in his somewhat humanoid form. He reaches down and takes a gun from one of the guards, and plops it in your hands. The weight of the weapons feels intimidating, but Gabriel reassuringly places his hand on your shoulder.

“Just in case,” he says. He could still see the small amount of fear in your expression as you hold the weapon, and he reaches forward to cup your cheek. “It’s going to be alright.”

You grip the weapon the way you think it’s supposed to be held, and give Gabriel a nervous nod.

“Just in case,” you mimic his words, and you two begin your escape on the SCP Facility.


	8. Path to Freedom

_**CONTAINMENT BREACH. CONTAINMENT BREACH. MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST SAFE ROOM.** _

A familiar alarm echoes around the facility followed with spinning red lights overhead and shouting people ahead. Gabriel stops you and pushes you against the wall, surveying the area. He turns to you and gives you a nod, which signals your queue to speak.

“We need to escape through the Western Exit, that’s where the car park is. It’ll take around two days to get to Angela to make sure you have enough energy to sustain your form for that long,” you say. “The closest way to the exit is- “

“I know,” Gabriel says, giving you an assuring nod. “I’ve already surveyed the area while ago, when… y’know.”

You widen your eyes. You had a feeling that being the leader of Blackwatch would equip him with skills for this sort of scenario, but seeing it happen in real life is fascinating and nerve-wracking at the same time.

He grasps your shoulders to hold you still; you didn’t realise how much you were shaking until now. Even if your body was now still, he still notices your erratic, heavy breathing. Gabriel leans in, holding you into a quick embrace.

“The guards won’t be prepared to deal with this situation, so we already have the upper hand. I’ll only kill what I need, spare who I can, alright? Everything’s going to be okay, just hang in there,” he says confidently, which helps you calm down a bit. You give him a nod, but your fear and uncertainty is still sprawled all over your face. You can see that Gabriel still wants you comfort you more, but as you hear the clatter of footsteps getting louder and louder, he tugs your hand forward.

“We have to go now, just follow my lead,” he says, and he slowly leads you around the corner and into the next hallway.

\---

You had your doubts about escaping, but the moment Gabriel sprang into action you never felt more safe.

_He is the real deal._

Despite being hundreds of guards swarming about and security cameras hidden in every corner, he somehow avoids them all. The way he moves, the way he catches on to the slight amount of movement or the smallest hidden detail, it feels so surreal. In his short time where he was able to collect information from his smoke, he’s already memorised so much about this facility. When you two ran into a small cluster of guards that blocked your path, he snuck up on them and knocked them out effortlessly. Gabriel had no choice to take the lives of the first few groups, but you can see with everyone else that he wasn’t doing anything lethal towards them.

As you’re getting closer to the exit, Gabriel takes you to a detour to the guard’s locker room. He hastily breaks apart the lockers, grabbing some clothes and plopping them in a gym bag that was owned by one of the guards. He also begins breaking into safe boxes that the guards had and starting handing you their cash.

“Never use your credit card, they can track you if you use it. The SCP Foundation can compensate the loss of their money with your savings,” he says as he continues to scavenge for more cash. You hesitate for a second, after all, all your hard work and all those times you worked late nights will end up going to waste. But what can you do?

Gabriel notices that you’re conflicted, and reaches out to cup your cheek, but you look back at him determinedly.

“I know what I’ve gotten myself into. It’s fine,” you say as you put on a brave face. You see Gabriel’s expression light up before kissing you on the forehead.

“Thank you for doing this,” he says, before you two continue your escape.

\---

It wasn’t long until you got to the Western Exit, but you felt your heart drop when you saw the amount of guards posted around the exit. You could see Gabriel deep in thought, followed by shaking his head.

“What’s wrong?” you whisper. He gives you a look of worry.

“I don’t think I’ll have time to spare all these people, it’ll take too long. We’ll need to kill them all to get through,” he says, giving you a worried look. You look back at the exit and survey it yourself. Not only is there a large group of people, but you also see the exit heavily barred – it’ll probably take a while to get the door open. There really isn’t time to waste. You see Gabriel is looking to you for confirmation, and you giving him a reluctant nod.

“Do what you have to,” you say and you press your back against the wall, preparing yourself for the bloodbath.

Gabriel gives himself a moment to breathe before you see the ground beneath him fill with dark smoke. With a final inhale, you see his body fall apart into his non-corporeal form and dive into the fray. Immediately you hear the guards begin shouting, aiming their guns and beginning to fire, but it wasn’t long until a different kind of shout fills the air. Cries of pain and fear echo all around as you hear Gabriel begin to take them out one by one. You close your eyes and try to not think about the bloodbath, but your eyes shoot open when you hear the sounds of Gabriel cries.

You glance over the corner and see, amongst the pile of bodies, Gabriel hunched over in pain as a few guards hold up a familiar device. You can see his form begin to fall apart, the smoke haphazardly reforming in an attempt to stay together. You see he’s trying his best to break from the device’s effect, but the longer it’s concentrated on him, the weaker Gabriel is getting.

You feel time slow almost, as your hand instinctually reaches for your gun. You bring up the gun, aiming towards one of the guards, and with a shaky exhale, you fire. You wince at the sound of a guard letting out a wounded cry, followed by eyes in your direction. Immediately you see guards shift their focus onto you and fire in your direction. You quickly duck around the corner, but you feel a surge of pain in your arm as a bullet grazes your skin.

“NO!”

In that brief moment where you drew their attention, it was enough for Gabriel to escape. With a deathly howl, you see the entire room being encased with a blast of smoke. Your eyes begin to sting and your lungs begin to seize up, and when you glanced at the heart of the smoke you see a where once was Gabriel, was now a terrifying beast. The way the smoke shifted and parted, you realise that claws are swiping across the guards, ruthlessly tearing them apart with each swipe.

You feel your skin cracking and drying in the presence of the smoke, your vision getting hazier with each passing second. You don’t hear any more guards but Gabriel continues to screech, uncontrollably lashing out at nothing. In the moment of desperation, you run towards him.

“Gabriel! Everything’s fine!” you cry out, but your voice is drowned out by the alarms and his cries. You run closer, feeling the smoke’s effect’s getting stronger. You feel your limbs begin to ache and it hurts to run as well as your chest now stinging in pain, but you press on and call out again.

“Gabriel!” you shout, this time you see his head turn towards you. You see a face of a beast, white beads for eyes staring at you with rage, until there’s an audible gasp from him.

The smoke in the area immediately subsides, fading into nothing as Gabriel’s beastly form shrinks into human and runs towards you. Your legs give way but Gabriel reaches you in time to catch you. You’re coughing and gasping as your lungs are pained and dried, curling your fingers onto your chest as you feel weak.

He gently pulls your chin down to kiss you, and you feel the sensation of the smoke being removes from you once again. When Gabriel was done, he cradles you head and pulls you into his chest.

“[Y/N]… I-! I’m so sorry, I- “he stammers. “I don’t know what came over me, I- “

“Gabriel,” you say, trying to calm him down. You could see the grief in his expression, but you do your best to show him your smile. “We have to leave now. This will all be over very soon.”

He spots the wound on your arm. “We have to get that patched up now- “

“It’s fine, Gabriel! We have to leave now,” you say, standing up yourself and making your way to the gate. “We’ll figure it out once we get to the car, now let’s go!”

\---

You both make your way to the console for the door. It was protected in a thick glass casing which Gabriel easily breaks away. After the glass is out of the way, you open up the panel and begin sorting through wires. You’ve run through your head many times the way you’re supposed to escape, and with a confident yank of a wire, you hear the console give out a beep.

You stand up and reach forward to begin initiating the override, but in the glow of light from the screen, you could still your fingers wrinkled and weak. You already get the feeling Gabriel sees this too.

“I’m fine,” you say without stopping work. “Angela can probably fix it or something.”

“You sure put a lot of faith in her,” Gabriel says, standing behind you.

“Why wouldn’t I? She has the potential to save you, what I have is nothing more than child’s play for her probably.”

“Listen. If the operation doesn’t work, I- “

There’s a beep, followed by the sounds of grinding metal. The gate begins to unlock.

“We’ll have plenty of time to speak in the car,” you say, and with a nod you two exit the building.

\---

Everything else felt so easy afterwards. You find a suitable car which Gabriel easily carjacks, and you two quickly drive out of the facility. You hand Gabriel a map of the area and he guides you on where you should drive to lose anyone who’s still chasing you. Afterwards, you drive to a secluded area about an hour away from the SCP Foundation to your actual car, and it was smooth driving from there.

You make sure to change your clothes and Gabriel, who now has more than enough power, puts on clothes he stole as well as he maintains his human form. He’s sitting next to you in the passenger seat, cautiously watching the road. You can’t help but glance to your side at times, feeling exited and overjoyed that you’re so close to saving Gabriel once and for all.

After hours of driving in the dead of night, you feel fatigue begin to take you over. The moment you drive the car slightly out of line, Gabriel demands you to pull over. Since you’re in a secluded freeway, he tells you to drive slightly off-road to be hidden from sight.

He opens the trunk of the car, telling you to sit down and take off your shirt as he prepares to tend to your wound. You’re lucky that you have a small first aid kit in your car, and he patches up your wound before you make your way back to the driver’s seat.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks.

“We have to keep going, there’s no time to lose- “

“And get yourself killed in a car accident? You’re sleeping, now.”

You reluctantly make your way to the backseat of your car as Gabriel closes the trunk, preparing yourself to sleep when Gabriel joins you. You give him a confused look.

“I thought you were going to take a wheel while I slept?” you ask, but Gabriel shuffles closer to you.

“We’re finally able to be together after so long, just let me be with you,” he sighs as he lies across the car with you. The combination of the warmth of his body and your exhaustion doesn’t help with your excuse.

“But Gabriel… Your condition- “

“It’s fine, I can keep it together long enough to reach Angela.”

You’re lying on top of him as he begins to run his fingers through your hair, his thumb gently caressing your cheek.

“[Y/N]?” he says, his voice in a low whisper as he continues to hold you.

“Mmm?” you hum, just about to give in to your need for rest.

“I liked how you handled yourself today. You really pulled yourself together and… saved me again.”

You let out a pleased sigh and snuggled up on his chest. He rests an arm over you, holding you close. There’s a moment of silence until he speaks again.

“If the operation doesn’t work- “You look up at him worried, your eyes meeting his. “- I want to let you know that… these past few months with you, I’ll never forget what you did for me. In my years of suffering as this… monster, I’ve never been happier in my life. Either way, you’ve saved me and you’ll always have a place in my heart.”

“What about if you survive the operation?” you ask. Gabriel gives you a smile.

“Then I’ll be sure to keep you safe for the rest of your life. Sort out your new identity and be with me for as long as we’re together.”

You let out a small chuckle. “I like that option a lot more.”

He chuckles as well and pulls your face towards his to give you a kiss. With no imminent danger or real urgency about, Gabriel draws out the kiss. It ends up being long and passionate, the sudden intimacy making your body begin to feel hot and needy. You notice Gabriel's actions are become more lustful as his hands slip under your shirt, his fingers gliding across your skin as you’re losing control of yourself more and more.

The whole thing feels like a dream; Gabriel so close to you after wanting to be with him for so long, whispering words of love you to as you’re tangled in his embrace.


	9. The Man

You wake up in the backseat of your car, the daylight shining in through the window. You groan as you sit up, your back aching from the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement. To your surprise, you see Gabriel quietly driving, his head perking slightly at the realisation that you’re awake.

“Gabriel…” you sigh, he gives you a small hum of acknowledgement.

“Good morning,” he says, his eyes still focused on the road. You shake your head.

“You shouldn’t be using your energy like this, let me drive,” you say as you stretch out your arms and neck. He lets out a small groan.

As you reach out to your bag to get something to eat and drink, you notice that your fingers are still looking a bit off. You lift them to the light from the sun to see how dulled out and wrinkled your skin has become. It was night time when you were caught in Gabriel’s attack, so you weren’t able to see the full effect of his smoke, but now that it’s daytime...

You lift your head up to see your reflection on the rear-view mirror, and the sight frightens you a bit. Even though you thought you’ve had enough sleep, there are dark, sunken bags under your eyes, your lips are slightly purple and cracked, and there are some splotches on your skin that are dulled out.

Is this what Gabriel did to you accidentally yesterday?

You give a glance towards Gabriel, and you could see his worried expression.

“How long have you been driving for?” you ask.

“All night.”  
“All night?” you exclaim. “Gabriel, but your form- “

“When I noticed you weren’t getting better I had to keep driving,” he says, rolling his shoulders as he speaks. “I don’t know if what I did was permanent, we’re rushing to Angela to make sure. Eat some food, then you can take over the wheel.”

After you’ve finished your breakfast of crackers and water, you two pulled over to the side and swap seats with Gabriel. It’s subtle, but you can already see the very faint wisps of smoke leaving his form. The moment he’s in the backseat, he lifts down the middle seat and slowly enters the trunk in his smoke form (it would be pretty suspicious to have a cloud of smoke in your backseat). As you’re driving, you could hear a familiar humming behind you.

_Gabriel must’ve been tired._

\---

Your fingers are cold, but the sun shining onto them helps a bit. You go into some sort of mindless state as you’re driving for hours and hours, stopping at a couple of gas stations as you go. There’s the occasional question from Gabriel in the boot asking you’re okay, but other than that it’s a quiet drive. You worry about the SCP Foundation chasing you down, but when you drive for a full day without anything chasing you, you feel yourself relax. Best case scenario, they think you died in that containment breech.

It's night time and you feel yourself getting dizzy from your fatigue and your hunger, so you pull over to the side of the road you give yourself a bit of rest. After all, it’s not long until you reach Angela. You grab a phone and give her a call, and after a few rings you hear her voice.

“Dr. Ziegler? It’s me, just telling you we’ll be there in a few hours or so,” you say.

“I-I see,” she says, her voice distorted slightly from the phone.

“You might have to see me as well though, I might’ve gotten some sort of… illness from Gabriel. We both aren’t sure what happened to me.”

“Well, you are an ordinary human, no? Hopefully Caduceus should be able to patch you up no problem. How is Gabriel by the way?”

“He’s sleeping I think, I’ll go check on him now,” you say as you exit the driver’s seat, making your way to the backseat to pear through the hole. He seems to have closed the cushion during the car ride without you realising.

“Gabriel?” you ask, slowly lifting the seat down when you hear a very faint groan. His voice emerges from the darkness in a small growl.

“I-s th_at Angel_a?” he says. You could hear a small gasp come from your phone. You give him a nod and a smoky hand beckons you to bring the phone closer. You face your phone towards Gabriel, the light from the screen reflecting off the smoke, and his voice slowly seeps out from the darkness.

“Se_e yOu so_on, Doc.”

A moment of silence, followed by an exhale from the phone.

“Of course,” Angela says blankly before ending the call.

The trip continues in silence again, but this time your thoughts are running through your head restlessly. It’s no doubt that Gabriel has a grudge against Angela, but will he still attack her even though she’ll try to cure him? You stare down at your fingers again, dulled and wrinkled, the life wilted from the skin.

_Will you have to go through that again to stop him if that happens?_

\---

You’ve arrived, and you’re now pulling into the garage of a small house in a quiet street rented out by Angela. You step out of the car just as the garage closes off, and Angela greets you by the entrance to the house. The light of the garage reflects your current condition and Angela inspects you well, but she lets out a relieved sigh. Something she can fix, no problem.

Next was the trunk of your car, and as you reach out to open it, you can sense Angela tensing up.

“Gabriel? We’re here,” you say as you unlock the trunk, and slowly begin to open it.

An audible gasp comes from the doctor as thick black smoke begins to roll onto the ground, then solidifying into a shape of a person. The way he’s moving though… it’s supposed to intimidate. _Something is going on._

“G-Gabriel, I- “Angela stutters, her words caught in her throat. There’s a moment of suspense until a growl comes from Gabriel.

“ **He_y, Doc** -”

You were ready if something like this happened, and to your dismay, it did happen. You jump out and hold Gabriel just as you see him rush towards Angela, your hands holding his smoky arms at bay as they sharpen into claws. You feel the familiar cold sensation on your fingers. He must’ve lost a part of his sanity again from the loss of his energy, his mind now bent on taking down Angela. You stand between him and his target, and he growls at you at your interruption.

“Gabriel, stop,” you try to say as calmly as possible, Gabriel writhing against your grip. “Angela is here to help you, remember? It’ll all be over soon, don’t do this to her.”

He’s not rejecting you, neither is he complying. His thoughts conflicting with each other as you can feel his body tense and relax at the idea of killing her. You turn your head to Angela, and despite the fear in her eyes as she’s being loomed over by shadow, a moment of confidence returns to her.

“Everything is set up, come this way,” she says as you two quickly pace towards the operation room, your hand firmly on Gabriel’s arm as you lead him there.

For such an ordinary looking house on the outside, Angela had really set up the interior to be extremely high tech. There’s an operating table in the middle of the room with machines and lights that loom over it. There are dormant bots charging against the walls and a large, cylindrical machine with walls made of monitor and buttons. She gestures you to lay Gabriel on the table and you do with difficulty. Gabriel is still struggling against your grip, but still going along with your actions. You gently grasp his cheek and begin running your thumb across it, trying to soothe him.

“It’s okay Gabriel, just relax, it’ll all be- “

“Wh-at if it fa_ils?” he says as his smoke solidifies into his human body. “Wh_at if eve-rything- “his voice begins to choke and he grasps your hand, squeezing it as he tries to control his emotions. Angela steps into the cylindrical until and begins operating the machine, after a few seconds, the dormant bots around the room light up.

“As I slowly remove Caduceus, the bots will patch up whatever injuries will appear on his body. [Y/N]… it’s time to step back.”

You give Gabriel one last reassuring look, and one last kiss on the forehead, before you step away from the table. You understand the importance of not interrupting something this delicate, and you sit in a chair on the far wall in silence. You place your hand over your own mouth as you watch, hopefully muffling whatever exclamation you might let out.

Angela exhales, before letting out a determined hum.

“Let us begin.”

\---

From the machine that looms above the operating table, a golden light begins to swirl from the inside. Within seconds, Gabriel begins to let out muffled grunts, and a faint golden stream begins to leave his form. The faint wisps of smoke that were leaking from his body stop, and his form becomes more solid as the machine lightly hums. The first wounds on his body begin to appear, and as the pain begins to take over Gabriel’s body, he lets out a cry. Immediately, the two bots to his sides reach out and hold him down with straps of soft plastic. He still wriggles in the agony, but it’s suppressed enough for the bots to begin suturing the cuts and treating the burnt skin.

Whatever bullet or shrapnel that was in his body is long gone, but the wounds that remain begin to leak blood as they appear. And even though the bots are patching him up quickly, new wounds are appearing across his body without pause. Some of the newer wounds appear across already patched ones, and you hold your breath in your fear. The bots immediately catch on and fix up the ruined sutures, and you let out your sigh. You give yourself a moment to think through your emotions. _It’s fine. Gabriel is in good hands. Gabriel is in good-_

There’s a loud yell that escapes Gabriel as you could see his body begin to shake. Your eyes widen at the glimpse of it, as a large, open laceration appears on the side of his stomach. Immediately, the bots focus shifts to that major wound and begin to work on it. Gouts of blood begin to pour out as the bots reach in, patching up whatever internal wound there is before closing up the gaping injury.

“Caduceus removal at 80%. Gabriel’s body is stable enough. Injections and transfusions - true,” Angela says into a mic. A few more bots at the side begin bringing over equipment, hooking him up to it. The amount of bots and machines that are around the table, you can barely see Gabriel. You clench your hands tightly in one another as you begin to listen. You hear his cries, the gently clinking of equipment being used, the voice of Angela in the back instructing the operation, and your own heartbeat in your ears.

The drugs haven’t gone into effect quick enough for Gabriel to let out another heart wrenching, pained cry.

“… Caduceus effect successfully removed. Siphon – disable,” Angela says, the machine looming over Gabriel switches off, and recedes up into the ceiling.

Your chest tightens. Gabriel is… no longer a monster, and the thought makes you smile, followed by the feeling of dread. The wounds on his body, the pain he’s going through, he now has to go through as a human.

The drugs have taken effect, and he’s no longer resisting against the pain, but he arms of the bots are tirelessly working on the appearing wounds. With Gabriel’s voice silenced, you now listen to the beeping sound of the machines surrounding him.

“… All surface wounds patched. Blood loss is minimal. Prepare the scanner for any other injuries.” Angela turns to you briefly. “Please step inside the other room while the scanner is going, please.”

You give her a weary nod before you make your way to one of the bedrooms.

\---

The operation room is silent now, you can barely hear Angela’s voice or the machinery anymore. You can feel yourself shed a lot of doubt considering how well things seemed to have gone. Within an hour, Angela knocks on the door and steps into the room. She sits down adjacent to you.

“Gabriel’s operation is a success. Things were looking quite grim at the start but luckily the SEP has helped him through the pain. Now he needs to rest, and you need to as well,” she says in a calming tone. “But first- “

She takes your hands and begins to closely examine them, as well as looking at your face, taking your temperature, and checking your breathing. Afterwards, you can see her configure something in the Caduceus Staff before she begins to direct it at you. You can see the life return to your fingers as the warm glow of the staff pours into your body, and you feel a looming cold over your body vanish from you.

Everything else is a tired blur. Angela directs you to the shower, lends you some clean clothes, and shows you your bed, and the moment you lie down on a proper bed, it wasn’t long until you feel into a dreamless sleep.

\---

The next morning you go downstairs, locate Angela, and confirm if it’s okay to see him. She leads you to the other bedroom, which she fashioned into an intensive care unit. And on the bed, is Gabriel sleeping soundly on it. It felt so surreal to you to see him like this. No more bleached white walls, no more prying eyes recording your every action, no bright artificial lights. Everything around this place felt so serene compared to the life you left behind.

He’s wrapped up in bandages, as well as a splint for his left arm and leg. His face has even more scars and now a burnt mark that stretches up from the side of his neck and up to his lower cheek. But as you reach out and grasp his hand, the warmth from his skin couldn’t make you feel any happier.

\---

It was bright, and warm, and his body ached when he tried to shift his body. As his eyes adjusted to the room around him, he sees you, resting on his body. He instinctually tries to reach out to you, but the splint on his arm hinders him and he lets out a disgruntled sound. This wakes you.

“W-what is this?” he says, his body feeling numbed and painful at the same time.

“Gabriel!” you exclaim instinctually, “You’re awake!”

You hold his hand in your joy as tears well in your eyes. His hand is weak, but he’s able to gently squeeze your hand in response. It has been a week, and you’ve been by his side the whole time. You let yourselves have this reunion before you go get Angela to check him.

\---

Within another fortnight his wounds have healed significantly. His bones that were broken still ache, but his condition has improved significantly. Angela has talked to the landlord and has begun to move out the equipment from the house, preparing to return to her duties. She told you that you can stay in this house for another six months, that should be more than enough time for you two to get your bearings back on the world. After giving you a list of precautions and ways to treat them if they surface in Gabriel, she leaves you two the next day with a somewhat empty home.

\---

The moment Gabriel has healed up, you never expected that you would be boarding a flight within two days. Seemingly out of nowhere, Gabriel managed to prepare everything for you. Your new ID, passport, credit card. It felt so baffling to see him so prepared the moment he could, but then again, he was the leader of Blackwatch for a reason. It’s difficult to respond to your new identity and how you’re a different person, but this seemed so natural for Gabriel. He notices you tense up and leans in closer to you on the plane.

“It’s my turn to look out for you now, after everything you’ve done for me,” he says as he kisses you on the cheek. You reach out to grab his hand, once again running your fingers through his skin and his scars. You can feel your emotions well up again from your disbelief. He sees this and leans in again, this time kissing you on the lips.

“I’ll always protect you. I love you.”

\---

\---

\---

[{ARCHIVED} SECURITY VOICE RECORDING AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT SCP-666 – 89]

[VOICE 001]: What the hell is this?

[VOICE 002]: Hm?

[VOICE 001]: I know you let SCP-666 escape. Isn’t our purpose to protect the world from knowing about these –

[VOICE 002]: SCP-666 did not belong in the SCP Foundation.

[VOICE 001]: How could it not? It murdered hundreds of people the time it was here. How do we know it won’t do the same on the outside? And yet – we’re doing NOTHING to stop it!

[VOICE 002]: Please, let me explain.

[VOICE 001]: But I-

[VOICE 002]: Do you remember the purpose here at the SCP Foundation?

[VOICE 001]: To… protect the world from unnatural entities that defy what we know.

[VOICE 002]: Yes. And SCP-666 was unfortunately not one of those entities.

[VOICE 001]: What do you mean? You’ve seen it. The smoke, the way it shifts. How-

[VOICE 002]: Resolving an SCP’s case in just an incentive for our staff to work hard, when really the harsh truth is that we’ll never know how they’ve come into existence. However, SCP-666 can be explained, therefore we have no more need to spend our time and money on it. The true case file is locked under heavy security though, the information could put you in a lot of trouble.

[VOICE 001]: Even so, you should’ve approved the release of SCP-666. You can’t just… let it run rampant and kill so many people!

[VOICE 002]: If I did, then the truth behind SCP-666 will be passed onto the government, and our organisation will be under fire from them as well as the military. It’s a tricky case.

[VOICE 001]: You prefer murders over getting into trouble by the government?

[VOICE 002]: That’s how sensitive the truth is. This country’s secrets must remain secret as long as it fears war. The moment we let them know we tampered with their secrets, they won’t hesitate to take us down in fears that we’ll leak the information. This mass murder of our guards is an unfortunate way to protect our future. I think… this outcome is the best possible one considering all the other options.

[VOICE 001]: What about that researcher? The one that ran away with SCP-666.

[VOICE 002]: They were kind enough to leave behind their earnings, at least we should be able to use their money to help repair the facility.

[VOICE 001]: That’s what you’re worried about?! You were so worried that people are going to leak this information - we have them to be worried about then!

[VOICE 002]: If they do get caught, then they won’t be affiliated with the SCP Foundation, and it’ll be their problem entirely. Furthermore, despite passing our initial profile test, after the events that have happened they wouldn’t be fit candidate to work for the SCP Foundation anymore. Too much compassion gets in the way. Does that answer all your queries?

[VOICE 001]: … Yes, sir.

[VOICE 002]: Good, now as for your new agreement.

[VOICE 001]: New agree-

[VOICE 002]: This conversation is to be strictly confidential. Any mention of this and we’ll put you, as well as whoever you disclosed this to, to be reconditioned. Is that understandable?

[VOICE 001]: Wait! I didn’t know it would lead to this. I-

[TRANSCRIPT END]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really busy so I'm really glad I had the time to finish this fic. Hope you've enjoyed the ride, thanks for reading :D
> 
> Your comments and kudos really brighten my day, and I hope I brightened your day with my writing too :)


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